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Translated Texts for Historians

This series is designed to meet the needs of students of ancient and medieval
history and others who wish to broaden their study by reading source
material, but whose knowledge of Latin or Greek is not sufficient to allow
them to do so in the original language. Many important Late Imperial and
Dark Age texts are currently unavailable in translation and it is hoped that
TTH will help to fill this gap and to complement the secondary literature in
English which already exists. The series relates principally to the period
300-800 AD and includes Late Imperial, Greek, Byzantine and Syriac texts
as well as source books illustrating a particular period or theme. Each
volume is a self-contained scholarly translation with an introductory essay
on the text and its author and notes on the text indicating major problems of
interpretation, including textual difficulties.

Editorial Committee

Sebastian Brock, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford

Averil Cameron, Keble College, Oxford

Henry Chadwick, Oxford

John Davies, University of Liverpool

Carlotta Dionisotti, King’s College, London

Peter Heather, University College, London

William E. Klingshirn, The Catholic University of America

Michael Lapidge, Clare College, Cambridge

Robert Markus, University of Nottingham

John Matthews, Yale University

Claudia Rapp, University of California, Los Angeles

Raymond Van Dam, University of Michigan

Michael Whitby, University of Warwick

Ian Wood, University of Leeds

General Editors

Gillian Clark, University of Bristol

Mark Humphries, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
Mary Whitby, University of Liverpool

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A full list of published titles in the Translated Texts for Historians
series is available on request. The most recently published are
shown below.

Antioch as a Centre of Hellenic Culture, as Observed by Libanius

Translated with an introduction and notes by A. F. NORMAN

Volume 34: 224pp., 2000, ISBN 0-85323-595-3

Neoplatonic Saints: The Lives of Plotinus and Proclus by their Students

Translated with an introduction and notes by MARK EDWARDS

Volume 35: 224pp., 2000, ISBN 0-85323-615-1

Politics, Philosophy and Empire in the Fourth Century: Select Orations of Themistius

Translated with an introduction by PETER HEATHER and DAVID MONCUR

Volume 36: 384pp., 2001, ISBN 0-85323-106-0

A Christian’s Guide to Greek Culture: The Pseudo-Nonnus Commentaries on Sermons 4,
5, 39 and 43 of Gregory of Nazianzus

Translated with an introduction and notes by JENNIFER NIMMO SMITH

Volume 37: 208pp., 2001, ISBN 0-85323-917-7

Avitus of Vienne: Letters and Selected Prose

Translated with introduction and notes by DANUTA SHANZER and IAN WOOD

Volume 38: 472pp., 2002, ISBN 0-85323-588-0

Constantine and Christendom: The Oration to the Saints, The Greek and Latin Accounts
of the Discovery of the Cross, The Edict of Constantine to Pope Silvester

Translated with introduction and notes by MARK EDWARDS

Volume 39: 192pp., 2003, ISBN 0-85323-648-8

Lactantius: Divine Institutes

Translated with introduction and notes by ANTHONY BOWEN and PETER GARNSEY

Volume 40: 488pp., 2003, ISBN 0-85323-988-6

Selected Letters of Libanius from the Age of Constantius and Julian

Translated with introduction and notes by SCOT BRADBURY

Volume 41: 308pp., 2004, ISBN 0-85323-509-0

Cassiodorus: Institutions of Divine and Secular Learning and On the Soul

Translated and notes by JAMES W. HALPORN; Introduction by MARK VESSEY

Volume 42: 316 pp., 2004, ISBN 0-85323-998-3

For full details of Translated Texts for Historians, including prices and
ordering information, please write to the following:

All countries, except the USA and Canada: Liverpool University Press,
4 Cambridge Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZU, UK (Tel +44-[0] 151-794 2233,
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60th Street, Chicago, IL, 60637, US (Tel 773-702-7700, Fax 773-702-9756,
www.press.uchicago.edu)

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Translated Texts for Historians
Volume 12

Selected Variae of
Magnus Aurelius
Cassiodorus Senator

The Right Honorable and Illustrious
Ex-Quaestor of the Palace,

Ex-Ordinary Consul,

Ex-Master of the Offices,

Praetorian Prefect and Patrician

Being Documents of the
Kingdom of the Ostrogoths in Italy,
Chosen to Illustrate the Life of the Author
and the History of his Family

Translated with introduction and notes by
S. J. B. BARNISH

Liverpool

University

Press

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First published 1992 by
Liverpool University Press
4 Cambridge Street
Liverpool, L69 7ZU

Reprinted 2006

All rights reserved. No part of this
book may be reproduced in any form
without permission in writing from the
publishers, except by a reviewer in
connection with a review for inclusion
in a magazine or newspaper.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A British Library CIP Record is available
ISBN 0 85323 436 1

Printed and bound in the European Union by
Bell and Bain Ltd, Glasgow

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii

REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS viii

INTRODUCTION

A. Italy, A.D. 395-550 ix

B. The Variae

1. The Compilation xiv

2. The Character of the Variae xvii

3. The Variae as Separate Documents xxx

4. The Variae as a Historical Source:

a Caution xxxiii

5. The Variae: Text and Editions;

Selection, Dating and Translation xxxiii

C. The House of the Cassiodori (Ordo Generis

Cassiodororum)

XXXV

D. Cassiodorus and his Kindred in the Variae

1. The Family xxxvii

2. Cassiodorus as Diplomatic Draftsman xxxix

3. Cassiodorus as Quaestor xli

4. Cassiodorus as Consul and Senator xlv

5. Cassiodorus as Master of the Offices xlvii

6. Cassiodorus as Praetorian Prefect 1

TRANSLATED VARIAE WITH NOTES 1

GLOSSARY of ALLUSIONS AND

OFFICIAL TERMS 184

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 189

INDEXES 195

MAPS 203

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Much of the work on these translations was carried out while I held
a research fellowship at Darwin College, Cambridge, and a lecturership
at Queen’s College, Oxford; I must record my gratitude to the Master,
Provost and Fellows. For advice on interpretation and translation, I
must thank, among others, Luciana Cuppo Csaki, Raymond Davis,
Karl Holkeskamp, John Matthews, Bryan Ward-Perkins and Patrick
Wormald. Angus Bowie identified the quotation from Juvenal in IX.21;
he and Philip Harries gave me much advice on the wine technicalities
of XII. 12, after dinner one evening at Queen’s. Robin Lane Fox gave
a horseman’s comments on my rendering of IV. 1. Robin Macpherson
sent me a complimentary copy of his recent study of the Variae , and
Jill Harries let me see her article on the Quaestor of the Palace, in a
fuller version than was published. Carlotta Dionisotti and Margaret
Gibson scrutinised every translation, made many comments, and saved
me from many errors. Lesley Smith and Neil Ferguson spent much
labour and advice in assisting my word-processing.

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THE VARIAE OF CASSIODORUS

REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS

References to the Variae in bold type are to texts translated in this
volume, e.g. Preface, or VIII. 33; references in plain type are to those

which are omitted.

CCSL

CSEL

C.Th.

JRS

MGH

MGHAA

PBSR

PLRE II

Cotpus Christianorum, Series Latina

Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiae Latinorum

Theodosian Code

Journal of Roman Studies

Monumenta Germaniae Historica

MGH , Auctores Antiquissimi

Papers of the British School at Rome

Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire ,

vol.lL

RBPh

Revue Beige de Philologie et d Histoire

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INTRODUCTION

A. ITALY, A.D. 395-550 1

When the emperor Theodosius I died in 395, the Roman empire was
divided between his sons Honorius in the west and Arcadius in the east.
Theoretically, it remained a polity united by name, law, coinage,
official language, religion, and dynastic allegiance. During the fifth
century, however, east and west tended increasingly to go their own
ways. In the west, society was dominated by a small class of great
landowning aristocrats. Often members of the Roman Senate, which
gave them identity, they were conservative in their patriotic and cultural
values, but reluctant to uphold the empire against the barbarians with
cash, or with the supply of recruits from their estates. Punctuating long
periods of cultivated leisure with brief spells of predatory and
amateurish office-holding, they came increasingly to control the great
civil offices of state. Full senatorial membership, and ultimately high
social status were coming to depend on tenure of those offices, civil or
military, which brought the title of ‘illustrious’. 2

In the youth of Cassiodorus, Italy had seven active civilian illustres :
in order of rank, the Praetorian Prefect of Italy, the Urban Prefect of
Rome, the Quaestor of the Palace, the Master of the Offices, and the
Counts of the Sacred Largesses, Private Estates, and Patrimony; 3
Gothic soldiers might hold the illustrious title, but seldom sat in the
Senate. Full senators could also be created by appointment to sinecure
illustris posts, usually as Count of the Bodyguards; also, probably, by
direct nomination (adlectio) to the Senate. The Consulship - usually,

! For general accounts of the period, see Bury, Stein, Jones, 1964; on the
Italian economy and society, Ruggini, part ii, Tabacco, ch.l, Wickham, ch.l.

2 The Senate was the council of magistrates and ex-magistrates which had been
de facto ruler of the Roman state from 510-49 B.C., and embodied its
traditions under the emperors. The Senate of Constantinople now ranked
equally with Rome’s, and the term might be applied to the councils of lesser
cities.

3 For these, see glossary; VI.3-9 gives their ranking; cf. 1.4.4.

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THE VARIAE OF CASSIODORUS

one Consul held office in Rome, the other in Constantinople
(Byzantium) - and the title of Patrician, were the two peaks of a
senatorial career. The two lesser grades of the order, which by now did
not imply senatorial seats, were ‘distinguished’ (spectabilis) and ‘right
honourable’ (clarissimus). Spectabiles could vote in the provincial
assemblies; the rank was achieved only by office or special nomination.
(In the later Ostrogothic period, they may have entered the Senate
again.) The clarissimate was achieved by special nomination, office, or
inheritance in senatorial families. 4

During the fifth century, the western empire lost much in territory
and prestige, most decisively when the piratic Vandals conquered
Africa, sacking Rome in 455. Soon, little more than Italy was left. The
Roman army became ever more barbarian in its composition, and its
commanders virtually ruled the state, with leading Italian senators as
their junior partners. Of two of the latter, the Gallic senator Sidonius
Apollinaris wrote in 468, ‘In the most elevated rank, if we leave out of
account the privileged military class, they stood easily next to the
Emperor in the purple’. 5 By 500, the two chief senatorial houses seem
to have been the Anicii and the Decii. The former had long been
notorious for vast estates extended by the skilful and unscrupulous use
of office; the latter, from 458 to 534, produced twelve Consuls and five
Praetorian Prefects of Italy, in four generations. (Cf. HI. 6 , X.ll.)
Such a record, the family of Cassiodorus, although rich and well
connected, could not rival; it was, however, politically important as
early as 450 (1.3-4).

Whatever the influence of its individual members, the western
Senate had small power, and few functions as a body; it was still
valued chiefly as enshrining the glorious traditions of Rome. Now and
then, however, rulers might respond to its resolutions and
recommendations, and it was playing an ever increasing part in papal
politics (cf. VIII. 15, IX. 15-16). In the time of Cassiodorus, at least,
it formally confirmed those appointments which carried full senatorial

4 See Bamish, 1988, 120-3.

5 Ep. 1.9.2.

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INTRODUCTION

rank.

In 476, the underpaid and land-hungry Germanic troops revolted.
Their leader, Odoacer, killed the commander-in-chief, Orestes, and
deposed his son, the usurping emperor Romulus. Settling his soldiers
on the estates of northern Italy, he based himself at Ravenna, the main
administrative capital, and took up the rule of the imperial rump. He
preserved most of the forms and mechanisms of Roman government,
nominated Consuls, and illustrious ministers, and enjoyed some support
from the Senate, but was known simply as king (rex), using neither the
imperial title, nor regalia. In fact, he hoped to be acknowledged as the
viceroy of Zeno, the eastern emperor, now theoretically ruler of the
whole empire. Although he gave Italy years of security, this
acknowledgement was never formally bestowed. In 489, Zeno sent
against him a horde of Ostrogoths, under their leader Theoderic of the
Amal family. For some years, Theoderic had been playing a major
part, often dangerous and destructive, in the stormy politics of the
eastern empire. Consul in 484, he had been commander-in-chief, and
held the title of Patrician; his master, though, was glad to get rid of
him.

Overthrowing Odoacer in a long and bitter war, and replacing his
barbarians by Ostrogoths on the Italian estates (1.18), Theoderic
apparently followed his rival’s policies, and gave fresh employment to
some of his leading Roman supporters (1.4.6, 1.18, 11.6.2,5). Like
Odoacer, Theoderic and his Ostrogoths were Arian heretics, but he
long remained on good terms with the Catholic Church of Italy, then
in schism with Byzantium. Like Odoacer’s, Theoderic’s relations with
the east were troubled. His constitutional position was lengthily
negotiated with Zeno and his successor Anastasius, with little
satisfaction to either side. 6 He too was usually titled king; he made no

6 See Jones, 1962, Thompson, ch.4; on land settlement, Bamish, 1986,
against GofTart, 1980.

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THE VARIAE OF CASSIODORUS

Xll

innovations on Roman law, but used some of the imperial regalia. 7 A
concept of twin states (res publicae) was sometimes employed by
diplomats in both Ravenna and Byzantium. However, the person and
regime to succeed Theoderic probably remained unclear, and he ruled
with such independence that some easterners thought of him as a
usurper. Not only did he cultivate the image of a western emperor, but,
in his times, an image of Italy as a separate, almost a national state
sometimes found expression in Roman circles. 8 In 504/5, the two res
publicae clashed bloodily over the control of Sirmium on the middle
Danube. The Goths were victorious, and Italy gained in security and
pride with the recovery of lost west-Roman territory. Theoderic also
employed marriage ties, and the prestige of Rome's ruler, to construct
a diplomatic framework which approached a system of alliances among
the neighbouring tribes. In 507, this was severely damaged, when
Clovis the Frank broke away, with Byzantine encouragement and naval
support. (See 1.45-46, EL38, 40-41, HI.1-4, IV. 1, V.l.) At the battle
of Vouille, he ousted the Visigoths from central Gaul, killing their king
Alarie II. Theoderic salvaged the remnants of their kingdom and
annexed Provence, ruling it as the revived Praetorian Prefecture of the
Gauls; Spain and Septimania he controlled as regent for Alaric's son
Amalaric.

Theoderic’s only child was a daughter, Amaiasuintha. In 515, he
married her to the Visigoth Eutharic, who claimed Amal blood; their
children were a son and daughter, Athalaric and Matasuentha. These
dynastic arrangements were approved by the emperor Justin I in
518-19, when he conferred the Consulship on Eutharic, and adopted
him as his son by arms (cf. VIII. 1). However, Eutharic soon died, and
Theoderic’s last years were darkened by quarrels with Byzantium, with
the Catholic Church, and with his allies, the Vandals settled in Africa,
who were the chief naval power in the western Mediterranean. In a
mysterious crisis, linked with eastern relations, and perhaps with the

1 In the Variae, Cassiodorus noticeably avoids official phrases applicable only
to emperors; cf. Fridh, 1956, 110, Viden, 136, 142.

8 See Reydellet, ch.4.

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INTRODUCTION

xui

succession problem, two probable kinsmen of Cassiodorus, the great
senator and philosopher Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, then
Master of the Offices, and his father-in-law Symmachus, were put to
death; Pope John I died under Theoderic’s displeasure. 9

In 526, the young Athalaric succeeded Theoderic, with his mother
as regent, an arrangement grudgingly accepted by Byzantium. Her sex
and her learning made Amalasuintha unpopular with the Goths, and the
regency was turbulent. Athalaric took to drink; and, on his death in
534, she placed as her partner on the throne her cousin Theodahad, an
unwarlike, but influential figure, who imitated both the culture and the
land-grabbing practices of the great Roman nobles (cf. X*3, X*5). He
rapidly imprisoned and murdered the queen, thus giving the emperor
Justinian an excuse to invade Italy. Justinian hoped to restore the
empire to its ancient power, and had already conquered the Vandals;
he had also supported Amalasuintha against dissident and chauvinist
Goths: his war was thus one of both vengeance and liberation, and was
assisted by some Roman senators.

Theodahad himself was soon overthrown by the soldierly non-Amal
Witigis, who married Matasuentha in 536. Witigis proved a failure in
command: Ravenna fell in 540 to the general Belisarius, and he was
taken prisoner to Constantinople. However, the Goths rebelled, finding
a brilliant leader in king Totila, and the war dragged on until 562. The
Franks expanded their power in Gaul and northern Italy, while flirting
with both sides. Italy was greatly impoverished, and the way paved for
the Lombard migration of 568. Among the casualties was the Roman
senatorial order. The western empire was not revived; Italy was
administered by the eastern emperor, after an increasingly military
pattern, and with officials of mainly eastern origin. The political
influence of the senators declined drastically, and few of the posts
which had conferred entry to the Senate were now available to them.
The Pope gradually replaced the Urban Prefect; no more Consuls were
nominated, for either Rome or Constantinople; the reign of Theoderic

9 See Chadwick, 45-69, Matthews, 1981, Bamish, 1983 and 1990; further,
below, xlvii-xlix.

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THE VARIAE OF CASSIODORUS

was looked back on as a golden age.

B. THE Variae
1. The Compilation

Our most important documents for the history of Gothic rule in Italy
are the Variae of Cassiodorus: twelve books, comprising 468 letters,
edicts and model letters (formulae ), which the author drafted, between
506 and 538, for Theoderic, Athalaric, Amalasuintha, Theodahad,
Witigis, and the Senate, and in his own person as Praetorian Prefect of
Italy. In the case of those written for monarchs, he was acting as, or
for, the Quaestor, chief legal expert and official publicist. 10 He
apparently compiled the Variae in 537/8, near the harassed end of his
service as Prefect, while war was raging, and Witigis was besieging the
Byzantine commander Belisarius in Rome. In a long and conventionally
self-deprecatory Preface, he claimed a range of motives for this work:
to satisfy the demands of friends - a standard apology; to supply models
of official eloquence for future administrators, himself among them; to
ensure immortality for those praised in the letters; to strengthen respect
for the laws; and to provide a mirror of his own character. The title
Variae reflects the varieties of rhetorical style which the letters show.
A verse couplet dedicated the collection to an unnamed rhetorician:
‘[Cassiodorus] Senator offers these gifts of love and duty to the master
whom no gold pleases more than eloquence.’

The claims and suggestions of the Preface are a useful
starting-point when considering the Variae , Official education is a
plausible motive. Cassiodorus’ later commentary on the psalms
(Expositio Psalmorum) and his Institutiones show a deep concern for
rhetorical training. His near contemporary John Lydus, a middle
ranking career bureaucrat in Constantinople, was awarded a state

10 On this office, see Honore, 8f., 136, 201; Harries.

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INTRODUCTION

teaching post for his general learning and skill in Latin. In the early
medieval west, formulary collections of legal and chancery documents
were common; the Variae are an early example of the genre. An
inscription from the territory of Timgad in Numidia repeats a sentence
from VII.7, the formula of appointment for the Prefect of the Watch
at Rome. This suggests that the collection was read and used by the
provincial administrators of Justinian. A Boethius, probably related to
Cassiodorus, served as Praetorian Prefect of Africa in 560. 11

As a compilation, the Variae can also be read as an apology, both
for the Gothic regime, and for the Roman aristocracy which had served
it. (Justinian's officials were to penalise the Romans for abuses of
power under the Goths. 12 ) There is something almost defiant in
Cassiodorus’ inclusion of 67 letters from his own Prefectural
administration. Perhaps, too, he was advocating either a continuing
Gothic role in Italy, a revival of the western empire, or a combination
of the two. About the time the Variae were published, he probably also
collected and published his formal panegyrics on Gothic royalties. 13
While Ravenna was under siege in 540, the Goths offered the rule of
the western empire to Belisarius. Many formulae in the Variae (e.g.
VII. 42) suggest an expectation that the Gothic administration would
continue; but VI.6, at least, may describe imperial practices obsolete
under the Goths. Some of the Roman senators praised in the collection
probably remained loyal to the Goths; others had transferred their
allegiance, and one, Fidelis, may already have been serving as
Justinian’s Praetorian Prefect of Italy, in rivalry with Cassiodorus.

Politically significant themes, such as the defence of Italy, relations
between Goths and Franks, and diplomacy with Byzantium are also
prominent. Moreover, both in general and in detail, the Variae may
imply a critique of the growing cultural and religious intolerance of
Justinian’s regime. (Cf. 11,27, X.26.) The emperor, furthermore, was

11 Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum , VIII, 2297; cf. Macpherson, 181; but
both texts may be modelled on an earlier one.

12 Procopius, Wars VII.i.32.

13 On the character of these, see MacCormack, 1975, 187-91, 1981, ch.8.

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XVI

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at odds with the Senate of Constantinople, which probably hoped for
a greater share in government, and a leading role in the choice of the
emperor. Controversy of this kind may lie behind the fall of Boethius
in Italy, the Nika riots of 532 in Constantinople, and an anonymous
Greek dialogue on political science. 14 In the context of such debate,
Cassiodorus gives a model of courteous relations between monarch and
Senate; he depicts the Senate as a galaxy of learned, talented statesmen,
which embodies the traditions of Rome; but he seldom shows it acting
corporately, to devise or execute policy, and he makes it clear that it
played no part in the choice of rulers for Italy.

In these political circumstances, his favourable picture of senators,
tribesmen and Gothic monarchs should not be taken on trust. (He is
well able to gild or ignore decay; cf. note 14 to Vffl.33.) However,
the image is far from ideal. Corruption, brutality and inefficiency
among Goths &nd Romans, and the impotence of the monarch are often
shown or hinted at, sometimes illustrating, perhaps, the political
struggles of Cassiodorus and his family (IIL8, 111.21, HL27-28,
m.46). A policy not of racial integration, but of an uneasy partnership,
with the Goths forming Sidonius ‘privileged military class’ against the
civilian Romans, is also plain to view (III. 13). Gothic rulers seem to
stand above the two races, to hold an unequal balance between them,
and to owe their authority to this position. (The emperors had treated
the military and civilian hierarchies similarly.) Between the lines,
indeed, we see these monarchs manoeuvring with difficulty to enforce
their will and restrain disorder among the jostling pride and interests of
Roman and Gothic barons. The land-grabbing of Theodahad is not
ignored, and the drunkenness of Athalaric is hinted at; as too, perhaps,
the murder of Amalasuintha (X.5, X.20-21, XI. 1.4-5).

Cassiodorus must, however, have selected only a minority of his
letters, and certain omissions are striking. Some of these may be on
literary grounds. Cassiodorus must have drafted many letters of
appointment for Consuls and ministers which are not included. Thus,
Liberius’ appointment as Praetorian Prefect of Gaul is missing; the high

14 Cf. Averil Cameron, 247-53.

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INTRODUCTION

xvn

praise he receives elsewhere in the Variae (11*16, XL1.16f.) suggests
that the motive for this was not political. In the Preface, the author
claims that over hasty compositions caused him embarrassment.
Another factor is the composition of his public: there is much on the
administration of Gaul, little on Pannonia or Spain; the Gallic and
Italian aristocracies were closely linked (cf. II. 1, III. 18).

More significant is silence on the internal strife of Theoderic’s last
years, which brought Cassiodorus back to court as Master of the
Offices, replacing his fallen kinsman Boethius. Instead, the building of
a fleet to defend Italy from foreign threats is given prominence, and
Boethius features only in much earlier letters. Amalasuintha’s murder
of her Gothic opponents, to which Cassiodorus may have owed his
promotion to the Italian Prefecture, is also missing. Of such conflicts,
we have only the occasional hint, although one of his major tasks must
have been their favourable public presentation. Did he rewrite the
letters he included? 15 For extensive political revision there was
probably no time: careless syntax, incorrect titles and arrangement, and
the incomplete adaptation of letters to formulae (e.g. XI.36) confirm
the complaints of the Preface; the royal formulary books VI-VII are
more carefully written. 16 Yet, like the letter collections of the younger
Pliny or the elder Symmachus (written c. A.D. 100-110 and 364-402),
the Variae were perhaps intended to coat with plaster the more
conspicuous cracks in their society. Style, however, appears in the
Preface as Cassiodorus' main concern: the study of his literary form
will give a deeper understanding of his aims.

15 Cf. Ward-Perkins, 116.

16 Cf. Viden, 140-4.

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THE VAR AE OF CASSIODORUS

2. The Character of the Variae 17

Cassiodorus gave the Variae a character partly formulaic, partly
timeless and literary. Some persons - especially envoys, although these
were often high in rank - are referred to not by name, but as X and Y
(ilium et ilium). Dates have been removed, save for the occasional
internal reference to the tax year (indiction), and figures for money and
commodities have often disapppeared. Official protocols, with the full
titles due to sender and recipient have been abbreviated to short rubrics
(not always accurate); presumably, this must have detracted from their
value as secretarial models. We should contrast the Merovingian
protocols in some of the Epistulae Austrasicae, private and official
letters, probably compiled for chancery instruction c.600. A document
which Cassiodorus' predecessor as Quaestor probably drafted in 507 is
also typical: ‘King Flavius Theodericus to the Senate of the City of
Rome, Tamer of the World, Head and Restorer of Liberty'. 18 Except
in the formulae of VI-VII and XI. 17-34, there is a very rough and
unreliable chronological arrangement, but the order of the letters is
determined partly by literary considerations: for instance, set-piece
documents, particularly diplomatic, begin and end the books.
Sometimes, though, we find a string of letters of similar date and
subject, and may surmise that portions of an official file (e.g. on the
administration of Gaul) have been included without much disturbance.

The letters differ greatly in size, content, and elaboration. In A.
Fridh’s text, the average length is some 30 lines, but the range is
between 5 and 140. Formally, the majority convey administrative
measures, legal rulings and edicts, or announcements of appointments.
The last of these usually include miniature panegyrics on the more
eminent ministers, and remarks on their offices. Resembling the
speeches of a university’s Public Orator, they are literary equivalents

17 On this, see especially Zimmermann, Fridh, 1956, O’Donnell, ch.3, Vid£n,
ch.3-4, Macpherson, part 4; on Cassiodorus’ political concepts and
terminology, Reydellet, ch.5, Teillet, ch.8.

11 MGHAA XII, 392.

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One of these is a formal directive sent by Theoderic to a council of
bishops set up to try Pope Symmachus; the other seems to reproduce
the words of the king on which the first was based. 55 The Quaestor of
the day improved his master’s Latin and the structure of his remarks;
he eliminated biblical references, and a not very relevant historical
anecdote; in general, he produced a blander discourse, less lively and
forceful, but more coherent, and less biassed. At the same time, he
followed Theoderic’s general gist, and sometimes closely echoed it. In
the same way, Tribonian’s laws may express the personality of
Justinian with more elegance than the emperor could command. 56 The
Symmachus case, however, was one of great political importance, in
which the Quaestor’s work would have been closely monitored; on
lesser occasions, or where flexibility was needed, he may have been
allowed a freer hand. As noted earlier, between the lines of the Variae ,
we can sometimes read a criticism of the monarch.

Cassiodorus sometimes likens secular offices to the priesthood, and
the overall impression left by the Variae is of governmental liturgies,
compiled in a secular Sacramentary: their stereotyped sentiments and
instructions correspond to prayers and ritual actions, their metaphors
and digressions to pulpit oratory. Popes contemporary with Cassiodorus
did much to shape the liturgy of the Roman Church, and the age was
one of sacred texts, religious and secular: the law codes of Theodosius
II and Justinian mirror the scrolls and jewelled codexes in the mosaics
of the Ravenna churches, or the great Bible 57 produced by
Cassiodorus’ monks at Vivarium.

Modem readers tend to dislike the repetitious habit of the Variae :
ideas are worked to death by an author who did not know when to stop.
Some ancients would have agreed: Quintilian wrote c. A.D.90, ‘In our
passion for words we paraphrase what might be said in plain language,
repeat what we have already said at sufficient length, pile up a number

55 MGH AA xn, 424f.

56 Cf. Honore, 26ff.

57 The probable ancestor of the famous Anglo-Saxon Codex Amiatinus.

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conclusive conjunctions, particles, and adverbs, words in which Latin
is far richer than English. Constat , forms of probari and videri, and
superlatives are commonplace, indeed are often almost meaningless;
many words, phrases and inflections are introduced largely for the sake
of rhythm and euphony. To give variety, neologisms are created, and
old words given new uses. In the combination of stock phrases, or the
accumulation of clauses, the syntax may become confused, and a
paratactic arrangement of clauses is often preferred to a subordinate -
signs, perhaps, of hasty writing and compilation. 21

By comparison with other late Latin letters, the Variae make easy
reading: Cassiodorus is less dry, compressed, and elliptical than
Symmachus or his own contemporary, bishop Ennodius of Pavia, less
recherche in vocabulary than Sidonius or Ennodius. Even so, his later
Institutiones , a guide to the world of learning, intended partly for
monastic readers, is generally plainer and more comprehensible,
designed to instruct, more than to impress. The De Anima , appended
to the Variae , seems to be transitional in manner as well as matter. 22

Connoisseurs would have seen his letters as studded with rhetorical
conceits and figures like a meadow jewelled with flowers. The stock
vocabulary of symbols, metaphors, and abstract qualities has lately been
compared to heraldic blazonry. 23 The ancients had always exploited
history and nature for moral exempla , and this may have been
especially so in late antiquity, a culture fascinated by type, symbol and
allegory. The great men of the realm seem identified with virtues,
vices, skills and offices (cf. Preface, 14); their array has as little
individuality as the saints and prophets who look down in mosaic from
the walls of Theoderic s church of S.Apollinare Nuovo at Ravenna.
Cassiodorus" ekphrastic descriptions are often vivid and instructive -
thus, V.l gives a remarkable word-picture of the play of light on a
pattern-welded German sword. However, they lack the precision of
those in Pliny’s letters which lie behind their tradition, and they

21 Cf. Fridh, 1956, 8If.

12 Cf. Halpom, CCSL vol.96, 513ff.

23 Cf. Roberts, ch. 2-3, Macpherson, 182.

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sometimes leave us doubtful if the author has seen the object he
describes. Even in the less relevant descriptions, the object, and men’s
response to it, are given an exemplary turn, and a moral or religious
purpose seems never far away. (For instance, with VIII.33, contrast
Pliny, Ep . IV.30 and VIII.8.)

Literary allusions and echoes are probably numerous. (No thorough
scrutiny has yet been made, but I have noted a few instances.) Despite
the many pious expressions of the Variae , especially those letters which
the Catholic Cassiodorus drafted in his own right, rather than for Arian
rulers, secular classics are more alluded to than the scriptures. In this,
there is some contrast with the De Anima , discussed below, but the
general avoidance of Christian discourse seems comparable to the
non-religious Novels of the last western emperors. On natural disasters,
Cassiodorus speaks less of divine vengeance, than of physical causes,
as in XII.25. 24 Now and then, however, Christian miracles and
morality are introduced, and may even be used to condemn traditional
Roman practices (V.42, VIII.33). A digression addressed to the
Christian philosopher Boethius combines classical and biblical allusions,
and concludes with a passage of near Christian mysticism (II.40).
While the ancient Roman title of Patrician is traced back to the
priesthoods of early Rome (VI. 2), in the next formula the prototype of
the Praetorian Prefect is the Patriarch Joseph (VL3).

On practicalities, the letters are not always very instructive: the
technical exposition of law and administration features less than in the
official correspondence of Symmachus (Book X, Relationes ), or of
Pliny (Book X). In one letter (XI. 14), such is Cassiodorus’ absorption
in his rhetoric that the official point is all but omitted: administration
has become a vestigial frame for verbal landscape-painting. Most
letters, however, are quite brief; and sometimes oral messages were
sent, or accounts, lists, and detailed instructions were attached in
breves , a practice familiar from private and literary epistolography.
But, in general, we do not get so sure a grasp on the diplomacy and
administration of the regime as papal correspondence gives us for the

24 Cf. Leopold.

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sixth century Roman Church.

The late Roman upper classes linked themselves privately by elegant
correspondence, 25 but it seems a strange mode for official business.
Was it peculiar to Cassiodorus? His Latin is not mere bureaucratese,
but it has much in common with chancery style in the late antique
world. So too his moralising proems. Ancient rulers believed it
important to use persuasion; and late Roman laws, which give the best
comparisons to the Variae , often show a similar rhetorical structure:
they move from the moral arenga to an exposition of the situation
(narratio or expos it io), thence to a decision (dispositio) and measures
of enforcement ( sanctio or corroboratio). 2 * Examples can be
conveniently studied in the imperial Novels and Sirmondian
Constitutions attached to the Theodosian Code: some of these go
straight to the point, and the arenga is almost lacking; others come
close to rivalling the wordiest Variae 21 Evidently, much depended on
the time, taste and talents of the drafting officer; sometimes, perhaps,
of the monarch himself; sometimes, too, on his political position.
Verbose edicts of consolation to men afflicted by flood, famine or
earthquake probably had a long imperial history, although Cassiodorus
gives the sole surviving examples. 28 An edict of the emperor Julian,
a talkative intellectual, with special need to justify himself, included an
extensive essay on funerary rites; it was eventually reduced to a much
briefer law. 29 The short law-code called the Edict of Theoderic*° is

23 Cf. Matthews, 1974.

26 See Fridh, 1956, 39-59; Benner, 1-25; Viden, 120-53.

11 Constitution 8, an Easter-tide amnesty for prisoners, published at
Constantinople in 386, may have influenced XI.40 on the same subject; cf.
Macpherson, 174-9.

28 Cf. Leopold.

29 Julian, Ep . 56; C.77i., DC.17.5, a.363; compare Valentinian Ill’s Quaestor
in Novel 23.

30 This code is sometimes claimed as the work of the Visigoth Theoderic II
(453-66); I disagree.

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far more straight-forward and usefully informative than the Edict of
Athalaric (IX. 18). The Cassiodorian piece, though, was probably
designed for a different end: not to provide a handy legal compendium
for judges, but to shore up the shaky moral and political authority of
the regime. Hence its rather artificial twelve-part structure, recalling
the Twelve Tables that were the foundation of Roman law. 31

Cassiodorus’ originality lies in his elaborate use of metaphor and
digression, an importation, perhaps, to the official world from sermons,
secular declamations, and sermonising private letters. 32 From a
tradition of private letters which goes back to Pliny, he has adopted his
descriptions of scenery or natural wonders, and his miniature
panegyrics; both have their parallels in the correspondence of Sidonius
in late fifth century Gaul. Epistolary panegyric was also in vogue with
the contemporary Byzantine bureaucracy, as shown by examples in the
De Magistratibus of John Lydus. 33 ‘A flow of the most genial
impertinence’, George Gissing affectionately called Cassiodorus’
digressions; but there may be more to them than learned light relief.

The ascendancy of the Graeco-Roman ruling classes was based on
their mastery of rhetoric and associated learning. To civilian
administrators, it gave an eclat to parallel the soldier’s glory. 34 East
and west, this tradition was increasingly threatened, whether by social
mobility, declining education, Christian values, or the contempt of
warrior elites; not surprisingly, men reaffirmed it, deliberately showing
its virtues in the work of government. Rhetoric, indeed, had
traditionally a moral, as well as a practical function, and we shall see
that the Variae may have been designed to educate the ruling class in
the values of its role and the purposes of the state. As Cassiodorus

31 Even in less rhetorical codes and edicts of the period, the laws stated may
be less important than the action of stating them; cf. Wormald (2).

32 Some of his bestiary morality is shared with the sermon-based Hexaemeron
of St Ambrose; St Jerome gives good examples of analogy in the homiletic
letter, e.g, 125.2-4.

33 m.29f.

M Cf. Sidonius, Ep . VIII.2, Gregory of Tours, life of the Fathers , ix.l.

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wrote, 4 the knowledge of literature is glorious, since it purifies our
morals - something of prime importance for mankind; as a secondary
matter, it supplies us with eloquence’ (111.33,3; cf. 111,6.3-5, 11.4-5,
IX.21.8, 24.8). The virtues of prudence and integrity inculcated may
seem tediously banal, but he occasionally reveals something of the
moral dilemmas and special obligations of high office (XH.5.1-2,9,
XI. 16). 35

The rule of law, as both a natural and social phenomenon, and the
chief end of politics, is a common theme of the Variae. A key word is
civilitas . In classical usage, this had implied a ruler’s correct
demeanour towards his subjects, and still did so for Sidonius and for
Cassiodorus’ contemporary, bishop Avitus of Vienne. In the Variae , as
in writings of Ennodius and Pope Gelasius (492-6), it more usually
denotes the duty of subjects towards each other, decent social
behaviour, and respect for law; ‘civilisation’ and ‘good order* are
sometimes possible translations. By his use of natural and cultural
history, Cassiodorus seems to root civilitas in a garden of natural law
and social progress. 36

Men of the sixth century liked to theorise about government and
society, 37 and Cassiodorus gave to his picture of men at work in their
secular society a theoretical dimension which combined Bible-based
theology with classical philosophy. The De Anima , he claimed, was an
afterthought; but it also formed the thirteenth book of the Variae , was
similar in length to the others, was probably published and long joined
with them in manuscript, and was allegedly composed by request of the
same friends. There, the digressions of the Variae expand into the
nature and destiny of the soul, which has made the marvellous
discoveries necessary to earthly society, and perceives and understands
the divinely ordered universe (XI, praef.7, De An, i, iv, Expos it io

35 Readers 1500 years hence may well find the high minded editorials of our
more intellectual newspapers equally platitudinous!

36 Cf. Reydeliet, 193f.

37 Cf. Averil Cameron, ch.14.

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Psalmorum , cxiv.2). 38 The four cardinal virtues, which figure largely
in the Variae , are given a social emphasis, and are complemented by
a more spiritual or intellectual trio (vii). Prayer and meditation close
the treatise. St Augustine’s On Order may lie behind the concept; we
might also compare the thirteen books of his Confessions , of which the
last four turn from autobiography to associated meditation and
theology. Boethius 1 Consolation of Philosophy likewise moves from
political autobiography to the religious philosophy of the cosmos, and
is copiously illustrated with natural analogies. In their original form,
the mosaics of S.Apollinare Nuovo probably showed Theoderic’s
family and courtiers in solemn procession from the palace at Ravenna
to the throne of Christ; 39 to this Cassiodorus gives a literary parallel.

To develop a Christian version of the rhetorical training for public
life, while retaining classical elements, was a major concern for
Cassiodorus. 40 In his On the Duties of the Clergy (c.390), St Ambrose
had replaced Cicero’s On Duties , articulating practice and ideals for the
servants of God in the Latin Church. Despite the Stoic and Platonic
tradition, of which Boethius was the last, belated representative, 41
Roman secular officials had always lacked an ideology of service
formulated with such clarity; the Variae and De Anima seem a half
deliberate response to their need.

Boethius saw it as his consular duty to translate Greek philosophy
for his fellow citizens. 42 He also hoped to play the philosopher
statesman at Theoderic’s court, and both he and Cassiodorus may have
been influenced by the orator and philosopher Themistius (317-88),
counsellor to successive emperors. Roman arms had not restrained the
barbarians; Roman culture might yet do so. 43 Cassiodorus celebrated

38 Cf. Halpom, CCSL vol.96, 505, 510-13, O’Donnell, ch.4.

39 Cf.MacCormack, 1981, 238-9.

40 Cf. Bamish, 1989, 174-83. Ennodius 452 (Opusc. 6) seems a comparable
project.

41 Cf. Matthews, 1981,35-8.

42 In Categorias Aristotelis II, J.P. Migne, Patrologia Latina 64, c.201 B.

43 Cf. Sidonius, Panegyric on Avitus , 489-518, Ep. VIII.2.2, 3.3.

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the instruction he had given to Theoderic (LX.24.8). In his lost Gothic
History, he apparently depicted a legendary sage Dicineus. This alien
had given the Goths political counsel, and had taught them logic,
natural philosophy, and finally religion; their understanding of nature
gave them laws and moral standards. In Dicineus, did Cassiodorus
idealise his own aims and achievement at the court of Ravenna? 44

In the tenth century, the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus was
to write of the ceremonies of his court, ‘Hereby may the imperial
power be exercised with due rhythm and order; may the empire thus
represent the harmony and motion of the universe as it comes from its
creator; and may it thus appear to our subjects in a more solemn
majesty, and so be the more acceptable to them and the more admirable
in their eyes...’ 45 Supported by the De Anima , the Variae display this
governmental mirror of the cosmos.

When not acting as Quaestor, Cassiodorus was sometimes called on
to help out the Quaestor of the day with his compositions. In theory,
Quaestors were men of rhetorical skill; but it seems that his talents
were regarded as exceptional by successive rulers. (At a lower level,
John Lydus similarly lent his talents around the Praetorian Prefecture
of the East.) We have, in fact, a few documents probably drawn up by
other Theoderican Quaestors which support this impresssion: the Latin
is a chancery style similar to Cassiodorus’s, but the letters seem much
shorter and plainer than he would have made them. The rhetorical
declamations of Ennodius are the work of a skilled and learned orator,
and have some general resemblance to the Variae : for instance, a new
pupil is introduced into a school of rhetoric like a new minister to the
Senate. However, they show little of the Cassiodorian digressive
technique, which Theoderic himself may well have enjoyed (cf.

44 Jordanes, Getica 67-72; like a Praetorian Prefect, Dicineus was given
‘almost regal power* by the king.

45 De Caerimoniis , praef.D, tr. E. Barker. Compare the interpretation of the
money-system [1.10], and the elaborate symbolism of chariot-races [III.51],
long closely linked with imperial ceremony.

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IX. 24.8, and note). 46

We should compare another Quaestor of the time, Justinian's great
jurist Tribonian. The prefaces which he devised for his master’s
Novels , and which ceased when he died, often include lengthy historical
digressions, reassurances to a doubtful public that radical reforms really
followed Roman tradition. For the reforms themselves, though, he was
probably not responsible - they were the work of Justinian and his
Prefect John the Cappadocian; and some he may even have opposed. 47
Allusions to history long past are infrequent in the Variae - their
history is contemporary - and the political thrust is rather different. The
Ostrogothic rulers tried to change as little as possible. Cassiodorus
could not prove them Romans, although exempla from Roman history
may have been more frequent in their formal panegyrics. Instead, he
seems to assure educated Roman gentlemen that they were not lawless,
arbitrary, and uncultivated despots, that they observed natural justice,
and differed from other tribesmen, who lacked their noble-savage
traditions, and the educating grace of residence in Italy. Pope Gregory
the Great (590-604) was to write, ‘this is the difference between tribal
kings and emperors of the Romans, the fact that tribal kings are lords
of slaves, but emperors of the Romans lords of free men’. 48
Cassiodorus’ task was to show the Goths as defenders of freedom under
the law, and of civilised values, who honoured and employed
gentlemen of humane education; the term ‘barbarian’ is never applied
to them. 49 To read Theoderic’s letters to the recovered provinces of
Gaul and Pannonia (HI. 17 and 23) is to meet again the Caesar
Constantius in 296, as a medallion depicts him, delivering London from

46 The closest parallel may be Ennodius 8 ( Opusc.l ), a directive probably
drafted for archbishop Laurentius of Milan, in 501. Also, with 11.14, cf. 239
(Dictio 17).

47 See Honore, 58ff., 244f.; Maas.

44 Reg.Ep. XI.4; cf. ibid. Xffl.32, Wormald, 126ff.

49 Tribonian did a similar job for his low-born emperor.

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rebels and barbarians, and ‘restoring the eternal light’ of Rome. 50

If the execution was the work of Cassiodorus, what of the policy?
Procopius tells of cultural tension between Romans and barbarians in
Italy. 51 The honours given by Theoderic to Boethius, then translating
Greek philosophy into Latin, were conferred in 521-2, when
Cassiodorus was out of office, and suggest royal awareness of the
problem. If the Variae portray Theoderic, Amalaberga, Amalasuintha
and Theodahad as ‘philosophers in purple’ - a phrase perhaps taken
from Themistius 52 - the image need not have been foisted on them by
Cassiodorus who helped to shape it. Many emperors had worn a double
mask of soldier and intellectual, and other barbarian rulers employed
Roman rhetoricians among their leading counsellors. The political, if
not the cultural, tone of the reign had been set at least as early as 500,
when Theoderic visited Rome in a generous and impressive but tactful
triumph: citizens, clergy and senators found their religious sensibilities
reassured, and their political traditions confirmed. 53 Cassiodorus
enjoyed unusually long periods in high office, but these total fifteen
years at most; the Ostrogothic state down to the fall of Ravenna, lasted
for some forty. As with Tribonian, the influence he must have had is
hard to disinter from documents in which every decision and
appointment is presented, at least to the casual eye, in similar style,
through all changes of political weather and regime.

One quaestor of Theoderic apparently altered a general pardon to
make it still more inclusive, 54 and two non-Cassiodorian Ostrogothic
documents also shed light on the independence of official draftsmen.

50 Illustrated by Cornell and Matthews, 172. Compare also king Euric of the
Visigoths in 476, using the declamations of his Roman counsellor Leo to
restrain ‘arms by laws’ in his newly conquered territory (Sidonius, Ep.
VIU.3.3).

51 Wars V.i.33, ii.l: chauvinist Goths claimed that Theoderic had wisely kept
his tribe illiterate; cf. Wormald (1), 97ff.

52 IX.24.8, Themistius, Or. 34.viii.34; cf. Procopius, Wars V.iii.l, vi.10.

53 Anonymus Valesianus , 65-9.

54 Ennodius, 80.135 ( Opusc.3 ).

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One of these is a formal directive sent by Theoderic to a council of
bishops set up to try Pope Symmachus; the other seems to reproduce
the words of the king on which the first was based. 5 The Quaestor of
the day improved his master’s Latin and the structure of his remarks;
he eliminated biblical references, and a not very relevant historical
anecdote; in general, he produced a blander discourse, less lively and
forceful, but more coherent, and less biassed. At the same time, he
followed Theoderic’s general gist, and sometimes closely echoed it. In
the same way, Tribonian’s laws may express the personality of
Justinian with more elegance than the emperor could command. 56 The
Symmachus case, however, was one of great political importance, in
which the Quaestor’s work would have been closely monitored; on
lesser occasions, or where flexibility was needed, he may have been
allowed a freer hand. As noted earlier, between the lines of the Variae y
we can sometimes read a criticism of the monarch.

Modern readers tend to dislike the repetitious habit of the Variae :
ideas are worked to death by an author who did not know when to stop.
Some ancients would have agreed: Quintilian wrote c. A.D.90, ‘In our
passion for words we paraphrase what might be said in plain language,
repeat what we have already said at sufficient length, pile up a number

55 MGH AA XII, 424f.

56 Of. Honors, 26ff.

57 The probable ancestor of the famous Anglo-Saxon Codex Amiatinus.

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of words where one would suffice, and regard allusion as better than
directness of speech.’ 58 But repetition is an important liturgical
element, a fact of which Cassiodorus shows some appreciation in his
commentary on the Psalms. He might also be compared to a musician,
composing multiple variations on a theme. With his varied repetitions,
his use of paradox and antithesis, his careful, sonorous rhythms, his
lengthy periods, paratactically organised, and his display of curious
learning, he has his closest English counterpart in Sir Thomas Browne.
Rooted in Roman liturgies of the fifth to seventh centuries, the old
Book of Common Prayer also conveys the flavour of his more religious
moralising and his simpler sentences (cf. XL2). The style of the letters
won the respect of the novelist George Gissing; while Gibbon, though
outwardly contemptuous, at least paid them the compliment of
paraphrase.

3. The Variae as Separate Documents

What congregations heard these chants of the state liturgy, as each
was separately sung? One audience, of course, was the person or
persons to whom they were immediately directed. An edict on simony
in episcopal elections was to be engraved on marble, and placed in the
atrium of St Peter’s; another general edict was to be read in the Senate,
then formally posted (or proclaimed) in public places and assemblies
for thirty days (IX.15-16, IX.18-20). 59 A letter to a provincial
governor regulating a country fair was to be read to the people there,
then posted up (VIII.33). No such document would have been easily
understood by an ordinary person, and the last is an essay of great
literary pretensions. Doubtless, the governor was properly impressed,
but we may surmise larger educated audiences. An unauthorised
circulation among the educated is sometimes attested for private letters

5g Inst.Or. VIII, praef. 24 (Loeb translation).

59 Cf. Anonymus Valesianus 69: a royal address to the people of Rome
engraved on bronze, and publicly displayed.

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and declamations, before they were published in collections. 60 One
recipient of a specially elaborate letter summoned an assembly of the
cultured and eminent in his province for a formal recitation. 61 Official
assemblies of provincial notables probably continued in Ostrogothic
Italy, and I would guess that Cassiodorus’ letters were distributed or
recited at such gatherings. XII.25 was designed to reassure anxious
subjects, rather than his deputy.

Some documents, at least, will probably have been publicised before
they left the palace or reached the relevant official. Cassiodorus
certainly did not intend the royal directives which he drafted to himself
as Praetorian Prefect for his eyes only. To judge by imperial precedent,
copies of edicts would routinely have been posted outside the royal
residence where they had been produced. Among the duties of the
Quaestor may have been the public declamation, before their despatch,
of decrees and rescripts he had drafted, a practice which saved the
monarch’s credit if they were challenged. 62 Formal diplomatic letters
may often have been recited in council; so too, perhaps, set-piece
rebukes (e.g. 1.2, 35) which displayed the monarch’s cultivation, but
which the recipient would hardly have publicised. Public shame, as
well as honour, could be conveyed by letter, although learned
digression might soften reproof (e.g. V.42). Many office holders, like
John Lydus, must have dangled their letters of appointment before the
public eye; indeed, they may have displayed them formally on their
desks. 63 The letter to the honorand, and its twin to the Senate usually
cover rather different ground, as if the Senate were expected to hear
them both.

Moreover, some leading Goths and their followers will have been
literate in Latin; and those whose style and grammar were shaky may
yet have appreciated an elegant author, as did Jordanes, whose Getica
abridged Cassiodorus’ Gothic History . At Naples in 535, two trained

60 Symmachus, £p. 0.12, 48; Sidonius, Ep. DC. 7.

61 Synesius , Ep. 100/101.

62 Procopius, Anecdota 14.2-3.

63 De Mag. III.29f.; cf. Cornell and Matthews, 202.

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rhetoricians of the city apparently persuaded a popular assembly of
Goths and Romans to resist the Byzantines. 64 The Gothic History may
likewise have been aimed at both races: to impress on blue-blooded
senators, and proud Gothic chieftains the dignity and antiquity of the
Amal house, whose pre-eminence was recent and precarious. 65
Probably, then, at least so long as Cassiodorus was active at court,
most Roman, and some Gothic notables in state and society will have
been exposed to a sequence of letters, building up the desired image of
their monarchs.

What, though, of the non-elite? How far did the Variae resemble
the ivory diptychs and silver-ware which Consuls and emperors
presented to a chosen few? 66 In the Preface, Cassiodorus claims to
have adapted his style to his audience; but, though the style does often
vary, the education and status of the recipient was not always a
criterion. 67 Most barbarians, and even Romans of the day would have
found even the simpler letters hard to understand. (Interpreters had to
be provided for a learned letter on amber [V.2], sent to Estonia!) As
so often in ritual, the language and ideas are meant to be heard widely,
but are intelligible mainly to a few, Goths will have depended on
Romans, and the unlearned on their social betters, to interpret what
concerned them; relations of dependency and respect may thereby have
been strengthened or created. The Lucanian peasants at the fair of St
Cyprian, whom Cassiodorus disciplined and threatened (VHI.33), were
the distant ancestors of those whom Carlo Levi met in his exile beyond
Eboli in 1935. They had received nothing from Rome except the tax
collector, and radio speeches, irrelevant and incomprehensible. How
much in common had the audiences of Athalaric and Mussolini?

64 Procopius, Wars V.viii.29-42.

65 Cf. Wallace-Hadrill, 35; Heather. The Amals are given noticeably more
prominence in letters to the Senate (IX.24.4-5, XI. 1.19) than to barbarians
(e.g. IV.1.1).

66 Cf. Matthews, 1975, 112, 244; Roberts, 90-111, 121, 125-9.

67 Cf. O’Donnell, 73f., 87.

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4. The Variae as an Historical Source: a Caution

Even where suspicious silences and overt propaganda cannot be
detected, the Variae must be used with caution. Next to the imperial
laws, they are our fullest source for the administrative workings of the
late, particularly the western empire. They may, indeed, be too full a
source, shedding strong light on a very restricted region and period.
During the fifth century, great political changes had taken place in the
west, while the volume of new legislation declined sharply, ceasing
altogether in Italy from 476. Hence, we cannot always tell when
features of government encountered in the Variae had arisen, and how
far Odoacer and his successors dealt with novel situations by new
arrangements. So too with administrative politics: the light cast by
Cassiodorus hardly extends beyond his tenures of office. Hence, certain
letters may mark new drives against private violence or official
corruption, for which he and his masters should be given some credit
- or they may be common form.

5. The Variae : Text and Editions; Selection, Dating and Translation

More than a hundred manuscripts of the Variae survive. Those
which Th. Mommsen used in his edition (below), he divided into six
classes, stemming principally from a lost archetype. This archetype
may be identical with a manuscript which probably also contained the
archetype of the De Anima , attested in a ninth century catalogue from
Lorsch. 68 The Variae archetype came to be divided into two parts, the
second commencing with letter VII.41, and wholly or partially
transmitted by Classes 3-5. Class 6 is the only one to give a complete
text, but it is mainly a composite, drawn from Classes 1, 4, and 5. The
two best manuscripts are, for the first part, Codex Leidensis
Vulcanianus 46 in Class 2, written at Fulda c.1170; for the second
part, Codex Bruxellensis 10018-10019 in Class 4, also of the 12th

Interestingly, some De Anima manuscripts so derived may be linked with
the Palace School at Aachen; did Carolingian officials also know the Variae ?

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century. Leidensis , whose attractive drawings of Cassiodorus and
Theoderic are reproduced in Mommsen’s edition, contains LI to
VII.41, and alone gives the dedicatory couplet. Bruxellensis runs from
VII.42 to the end, and is the only member of its class to give
VII.42-47. 69

The editio princeps of the complete Variae appeared in 1533, the
work of M. Accursius. In many libraries, the only edition available is
likely to be the mediocre one of J.P. Migne, Patrologia Latina , vol.
69, based on that of the Maurist J. Garet (1679). Th. Mommsen’s
edition of 1894 ( MGH AA XII) is a monument of scholarship, which
put the text and chronology of the letters on a sound footing. It includes
some additional documents relevant to Theoderic’s relations with the
Church of Rome, and L. Traube’s edition of the fragments of
Cassiodorus’ panegyrics. The introduction is important for text, dates,
and orthography; while the indexes, especially Traube’s index of words
and things, which includes remarks on textual readings, word usage,
grammar and syntax, make the edition vital for research. In 1973, A.
Fridh edited the text in CCSL, vol.96. Based on deep study of late
antique Latin, and adding a manuscript unknown to Mommsen, this
edition offers some textual improvements, and cannot be ignored. It
also has indexes of scriptural and other citations (to be used with
caution), a bibliography, and Halpom’s appended edition of the De
Anima . However, it is marred by a throng of misprints, and the index
of names and things is very inadequate, being confined to the title
rubrics. The only English translation published is that of 1886 by T.
Hodgkin, The Letters of Cassiodorus . In this, the contents of many
letters are only noted; others are ‘condensed.’ Hodgkin was a learned
authority on Ostrogothic Italy, but lacked literary sympathy for
Cassiodorus, and worked from Caret’s inferior text. He provided a
lengthy introduction and notes, but these are frequently misleading,
knowledge of the late Roman world having advanced considerably since
his day. Consultation of his work is sometimes worthwhile, although

m These remarks are based on Mommsen's and Fridh’s prefaces to the Variae,
and on HalponTs to the De Anima.

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it will often prove dangerous or frustrating.

The Variae have much to interest the political, social, economic,
religious, and cultural historian; a selection with something for each
was hard to make. To focus on Cassiodorus’ career, interests, and way
of life, with those of his family connections, seemed the least
unsatisfactory solution; at least it fulfills one of the author’s intentions.
The section below, ‘Cassiodorus and his Kindred in the Variae’, shows
why each letter was chosen for translation.

Like all translators, I have had to compromise between a
rebarbatively literal rendering, and one so free that it would neither
guide the student through the original, nor convey its formal qualities.
I have tended to break up Cassiodorus’ lengthier sentences, and have
sometimes substituted the active for the passive voice. Cassiodorus
commonly uses honorific plurals (‘the royal we’), but does not do so
with consistency, or confine them to royalty; I have altered them to the
singular. In general, though, I have tried to stick closely to the text,
even translating many words which were probably added more for
rhythm than for meaning. The dearth of causal and conclusive
expressions in English has given an inevitable and misleading monotony
to the start of many sentences and clauses. Latin is also a language far
more economical than English, and Cassiodorus less prolix than
translation makes him seem.

In dating the Variae , I have used Mommsen’s work as my
foundation, but have sometimes had to refine or question his
chronology, and have found an invaluable supplement in Krautschick’s
recent study.

C. THE HOUSE OF THE CASSIODORI
(THE ORDO GENERIS CASSIODORUM)

[This fragment is sometimes called the Anecdoton Holderi , after Alfred Holder, its
discoverer. The work from which it was extracted must have been composed or revised
at the end of Cassiodorus* secular career. In style it recalls St Jerome’s On Illustrious
Men , a catalogue of Christian writers; possibly the original was a work of similar type.
In translating, I use Mommsen’s text (MGH AA XII, v-vi). O’Donnell (appendix 1) has

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recently edited it with an extensive commentary, sometimes challenging Mommsen’s
readings; see also Krautschick, 78-84.)

Extracts from the little book of Cassiodorus Senator, monk, slave
of God, ex-Patrician, ex-Ordinary Consul, Quaestor and Master of
the Offices, which he wrote to Rufius Petronius Nicomachus,
ex-Ordinary Consul, Patrician, and Master of the Offices. The tree
of the Cassiodorian family: what authors arose from their stock, and
< from what men of learning they came > 70 .

Symmachus, 71 Patrician and Ordinary Consul, a philosopher,
who was a modem imitator of Cato in antiquity, but surpassed the
virtues of the ancients by his holy religion. He spoke in favour of
candidates nominated to the Senate, and, imitating his ancestors, 12
also published a Roman history in seven books.

Boethius was pre-eminent in the highest honours, and was a most
skilful orator in both tongues. 73 In thanks for the Consulship of his
sons, he praised king Theoderic in the Senate with a splendid
speech. He wrote a book on the Holy Trinity, some theological
pieces, and a book against Nestorius. He also composed a pastoral
poem. But in his work on the art of logic, that is in translating
dialectic, and in the mathematical disciplines, he was such that he
either equalled or surpassed the ancient authors.

Cassiodorus Senator was a man of great learning, and
distinguished by his many honours. While still a young man, when
he was legal adviser [cons Mari us] to his father, the Patrician and
Praetorian Prefect Cassiodorus, and delivered a most eloquent
speech in praise of Theoderic king of the Goths, he was appointed
Quaestor by him, also Patrician and Ordinary Consul, and, at a

70 The text reads vel ex quibus eruditis . Several emendations and additions
have been suggested; Mommsen’s is profecerint.

n This Symmachus, Consul 485, is not to be confused with his ancestor, the
orator and epistolographer, Consul 391.

72 This refers to the history of Virius Nicomachus Flavianus, Consul 394.
Both works are lost; an attempt to reconstruct Symmachus’s has failed.

73 Latin and Greek.

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later date, Master of the Offices <and Praetorian Prefect. He
submitted > 74 formulae for official documents, which he arranged
in twelve books, and entitled Variae. At the command of king
Theoderic, he wrote a history of the Goths, setting out their origin,
habitations, and character in twelve books.

D. CASSIODORUS AND HIS KINDRED IN THE VARIAE 75

1. The Family

The family of Cassiodorus may have originated in Syria, but, by the
mid fifth century, it was established in the south of Italy. With large
estates centred on the town of Squillace, it was rapidly acquiring
influence in the province of Lucania-and-Bruttium, and probably of
Sicily. This influence depended partly on the tenure of offices granted
by the imperial government, and so on participation in the politics of
Rome and Ravenna. At the same time, local power meant that such a
family could not be ignored at court. Politics also created ties with
older senatorial families. The grandfather of Cassiodorus supported the
commander-in-chief Aetius, who, fore-shadowing Odoacer and
Theoderic, dominated the western empire from 433 to 454 (1.4.11);
another supporter was Boethius, grandfather of the philosopher
Boethius, of the great house of the Anicii. The philosopher married
Rusticiana, daughter of Q.Aurelius Memmius Symmachus, and

74 The text reads etpraejuissetformulas dictionum ; the restoration is disputed;
I have followed Mommsen’s ...et praefectus praetorio. suggessit formulas
dictionum ...

75 On politics and people under Odoacer and the Ostrogoths, Sundwall is
fundamental; see also Bury, ch. 12-13, 18, Chadwick, ch.l, Matthews, 1981,
Moorhead, 1978 and 1984, Wolfram, ch.5; for Cassiodorus and his family,
see O’Donnell, ch.1-2; for the senatorial culture of the time, see Courcelle,
ch.6, Momigliano, Kirkby.

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THE VAR1AE OF CASSIODORUS

Cassiodorus apparently claimed kinship with their joint family. 76 To
judge by his name Aurelius, his mother may well have been a
Symmachan, betrothed by her noble family to the influential minister
of Odoacer (cf. I.4.4-6). (Under Athalaric, we find the minister
Opilio, probably of the Ligurian provincial aristocracy, married to a
lady of the Decii, whose blue blood rivalled the Anicii.) Not only
power, but local wealth was partly based on a wider society.
Horse-breeding for the army in the Bruttian mountain pastures helped
the family, and Cassiodorus himself once fed a Gothic force from his
own resources (1.4.17, VHI.31.5, DC.25.9). Another contemporary
Lucanian land-owner may have owed his fine villa to profits made from
the state supply of pork to Rome’s plebeians. 78 During the fifth
century and into the early sixth, Bruttian wine seems to have found an
increasing market, especially in Rome; 79 Cassiodorus may even have
used his Praetorian Prefecture to advertise it at Ravenna (XII. 12)! In
all this, though, the Cassiodori may have been at a disadvantage,
compared with the nobility of Rome and northern Italy. These were
nearer to the court, and had a second educational centre at Milan,
which was revived by the rhetor Deuterius, perhaps under official
auspices; they probably filled most of the major offices during this
period. 1.3-4 rehearse the family history, while granting the honorific
title of Patrician to the elder Cassiodorus, probably on his retirement
from the Praetorian Prefecture which he held from c.503 to 507.
VHI.31, 33, XI.39, and XU. 12 tell us something of economy and
society in Lucania-and-Bruttium, and show the author’s interest in his
province (compare also XII.5 and 15).

With Cassiodorus’ father, we might compare Liberius (11.16).
Probably a major north Italian aristocrat, he too did not belong to the

16 See above, Ordo Generis , Cassiod., Institutiones I.xxiii.l, where the Proba
called parens nostra is probably another daughter of Symmachus.

77 But contrast Momigliano’s doubts (188-91) on the closeness of the
connection, in blood, politics and society.

78 See Bamish, 1987.

79 See Arthur.

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top Roman families. A loyal minister of Odoacer, he served Theoderic
as Praetorian Prefect from c.493 to 500, with the vital task of
organising the Ostrogothic settlement. Both men were succeeded as
Prefect by leading nobles; both were then made Patricians; and,
although neither reached the Consulship, their sons may both have done
so. Like Cassiodorus himself, Venantius, son of Liberius, had a literary
reputation; he, though, did not enter state service, instead receiving a
sinecure office which conferred illustrious rank and membership of the
Senate. 80 Elegant leisure and political activity were alternatives (not
always exclusive) for Roman and provincial nobles alike.

2. Cassiodorus as Diplomatic Draftsman

While the elder Cassiodorus served Theoderic as Praetorian Prefect,
his young son (aged about 20) was acting as his consiliarius , or legal
adviser and publicist, as Arator was to do for the general Tuluin (see
VIII. 12). (Unlike most of Theoderic’s known Quaestors, he does not
seem to have practised as a barrister.) The post allowed him to deliver
a panegyric on the king, perhaps celebrating the Gothic capture of
Sirmium in 504/5; his literary talents were thus brought to royal notice.
The consiliarii of the Praetorian Prefecture were often rewarded with
the title of Count of the First Rank (comes primi ordinis ), conveying
4 distinguished’ status, and membership of the king’s consistory council;
Cassiodorus compared their task of expounding the needs of the state
to the Quaestor’s (VI. 12.2). In 506, he was already handling
Theoderic’s diplomatic correspondence, either as Quaestor, or instead
of the Quaestor of the day. Clovis the Frank was then growing in
power and independence, and putting Gothic authority in the west under
strain. The patronising ‘cultural diplomacy’ shown in 1.45-46 and
11.40-41 probably had Roman precedents, and seems typical of
Theoderic % s methods, at least in the Variae . It may genuinely have
impressed barbarians: king Totila, receiving a letter from Belisarius -

m The accepted identification of Venantius with the Consul of 507 seems to
me uncertain, as 11.15-16 do not mention the office.

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rewritten very much in the manner of Cassiodorus - which dissuaded
him from the destruction of Rome, was deeply moved, and read it
many times. 81 The courts of Clovis and Gundobad, however, were far
from barbarous: both men were served by educated Roman nobles and
clergy; indeed Gundobad showed a taste for sophisticated theological
debate.

Such diplomacy had another face. In the late fourth century, cultural
contacts between Ausonius, provincial poet and rhetorician at the
imperial court, and the senatorial orator Symmachus at Rome, had
helped to bind a distrustful Senate to the administration. 82 By imposing
such complimentary tasks on Boethius (cf. also 1.10), Cassiodorus may
have been the agent of a similar detente. His ties of kinship were useful
there, but perhaps not vital: in IEL52, he gives a ‘cultural* task in a
similar manner to another senator, and it is easy to doubt how well he
knew either Boethius, or the highly theoretical character of his work. 83

Theoderic’s diplomacy had its cultural imports, as well as exports,
and Cassiodorus’ Latinity was sometimes called on to describe the
exotic gifts of barbarian tribes. In V.l, the rhetorical description of
German pattern-welded swords is surprisingly vivid and accurate. To
judge by the tastes of bishop Ennodius, Romans of the day are likely
to have been horse-lovers; and Cassiodorus, coming from a
horse-breeding family, may have found the technicalities of I V.l rather
easier to cope with.

11 Procopius, Wars VII.xxii.8-17; what we have is fairly certainly Procopius’
own composition.

82 Cf. Matthews, 1978, 33f„ 51ff., ch.3.

S3 Chadwick, 23, and Pizzani doubt Boethius’ technical competence; cf. notes
to 1 . 10 , 1 . 45 , 11 . 41 , for my reservations, and on Boethius’ writings in
Cassiodorus. Momigliano, 189f., suggests that Cassiodorus was more anxious
to associate himself with Boethius and Symmachus than vice versa.

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3. Cassiodorus as Quaestor

The imperial Quaestor controlled no finances, and had no
department of his own. But, as mouthpiece, and chief adviser on a
multitude of legal problems, he probably enjoyed a closer relation with
the ruler than did any other of the great ministers, and his power
increased during the fifth century. The senile emperor Justin I (518-27)
was dominated by his Quaestor Proclus. 84 In the Ostrogothic order of
precedence, the Quaestor ranked next after the Praetorian and Urban
Prefects, and, as suggested by YII.42, may have come to control the
king’s personal bureau, an obscure institution referred to as officium
nostrum} Urbicus, probably a Quaestor of Theoderic, ‘bore all the
burdens of his palace’. 86 V.4 and VI.5 exemplify the Quaestor’s
appointment.

The Ostrogoths did not legislate, and their Quaestor was not
involved in legal drafting. However, the restatement of existing laws
in edictal form was partly his business, and he also handled the
countless appeals and petitions to reach the king, including disputes
between Gothic tribesmen. 1.18, HI. 13, 36, IV.10, and V.29 show him
at work. In this he overlapped with an officer of lower rank called the
Referendary (cf. V.40-1). He had special responsibility for petitions
arriving from the Roman Senate and the provincial assemblies. He was
expected to have some measure of independence, and to act as guardian
of the laws when the monarch was unjust, or too hasty. 87

The latter seldom rejects the appeals and petitions which feature in the
Variae , and is usually found upholding a weaker and lowlier party

84 Procopius, Anecdota 6.11-13.

85 Cf. Jones, 1964, n.43 to p.255; 1974, 370f, Among other tasks, the king's
bureau can be seen engaged in law enforcement, collection of rents and taxes,
and the public post; it was staffed by principes , scriniarii , comitiaci , and
saiones; cf. V.5-6, VII.21-2, 31, 42.

86 Ennodius 80.135 ( Opusc . 3); cf. ibid,, 85, 168, for Leo and Laconius,
counsellors of kings Euric and Gundobad.

87 Cf. above, xxviii, on Ennodius, 80.135.

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THE VARIAE OF CASSIODORUS

against an opponent of higher rank or power. This may be partly the
result of Cassiodorus’ editing, but emperors had always been expected
to prove amenable to requests. Of all imperial legislators, Majorian
(457-61), who had made determined efforts to protect the lesser gentry
and lower orders, is most frequently cited in the Variae .

The Quaestor’s task was complicated by Gothic rule. Roman
soldiers had always enjoyed some measure of legal privilege against
civilians, and so too did their barbarian successors. In the later years
of the western empire, Aetius and similar generals had become more
prominent in administration. Theoderic had inherited their position, and
deputed civil business to his military tribal officers. Arigem and
Sunhiuadus in III. 13 and 36 are usurping judicial functions from the
Prefect of Rome and the governor of Samnium.

The structure of late Roman government was less demarcated than
it looks on paper. Emperors had frequently bypassed their ministers to
communicate with their lesser nominees, and the Ostrogoths followed
their example. Hence, we find Cassiodorus writing both directives to
ministers, and other directives which did their job for them. (However,
it does not seem that his monarchs gave orders to officials appointed by
the ministers themselves, like the powerful cancellarii of the Praetorian
Prefecture.) It is possible that the practice was increasing, since
Theoderic had less territory to administer than most of his
predecessors. In 1*25, the king is bypassing the City Prefect of Rome;
in H.20, his Praetorian Prefect.

Of the other great ministers, the Master of the Offices had, in
theory, the widest range of administrative duties, including the formal
conduct of diplomacy, and his work must have overlapped with the
Quaestor’s to some degree. The general service officers of the royal
officium , the comitiaci and saiones, seem to have been taking over from
the agentes in rebus of the Master’s department. In the careers of
Cassiodorus and others, Mastership succeeded Quaestor ship; while
Boethius as Master expected to have the Quaestor as his close
colleague. 88

m Cf. Sinnigen, 460f.; above, n.85; Boethius, C.Phil. HI, prose iv.

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The outbreak of war between Franks and Visigoths in 507,
followed, in 508, by Theoderic’s despatch of an army to Gaul, meant
much work for Cassiodorus, some of it probably before his
appointment as Quaestor. His services were required for diplomacy to
avert the crisis (HI. 1-4), for the administration of the war, and for the
establishment of law, and general reorganisation, in the renewed Gallic
province (1,17, 11.38, HI.17-18, 32, 41, 44, FV.5). However, a
Vi cari us, and then a Praetorian Prefect were appointed to govern it,
and the referal of problems to Ravenna probably decreased. Something
similar seems to have happened in the administration of the Balkan
territories taken over in 505 (cf. HL23). In HL3, a theme emerges
which probably also featured in his Gothic History : the banding of the
tribes of the post-Roman west under Rome’s ruler to resist the assaults
of an arrogant barbarian war-lord. Similarly, the great Aetius had
united the Visigoths and many other peoples to defeat Attila at the
Catalaunian Plains in 451. 89

Disturbances in Rome which were linked with the circus factions,
and involved rioting between the plebs and leading senatorial
households, meant more work for the Quaestor (1.27). 91 In 500,
Theoderic had solemnly affirmed his care for Senate, people and Pope,
for the monuments and food-supply of Rome. 91 Cassiodorus was not
the author of this policy, but his literary and cultural talents and family
connections were well suited to it. Monarch and senators, especially,
perhaps, those of the oldest families, were expected to work together
for the city, as shown in IV.51, (On maintenance, compare 1.25,
ra.30-1.)

Cassiodorus was a man of deep personal piety and religious
interests. Do these show through in the Quaestor-drafted Variael Like
his tribesmen, Theoderic was divided from most Christians in Italy and
the eastern empire by his Arian creed, which denied the full divinity of
Christ. The support of Nicene Catholic bishops, however, was essential

99 Jordanes, Getica , 180-224; cf. Barnish, forthcoming.

90 On these disturbances, see Pietri.

91 Anonymus Vale si arms 65-7.

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THE VARIAE OF CASSIODORUS

to the administration of his realm and the loyalty of the Romans (cf.
IL8). The Catholics themselves did not hesitate to use him as an arbiter
in their quarrels (cf. VIII. 15). But religion generally figures little in the
Variae , perhaps by design. Where it does so, Theoderic emerges as the
devout but impartial protector of individuals or religious minorities
threatened by the greed or fanaticism of the Catholics or Arians (11.27,
III.7). His attitude, as readers of the collected Variae would have
known well, was far more tolerant than Justinian's. (Compare X.26,
for Theodahad’s.) Cassiodorus himself played some part in religious
opposition to the emperor, following the reconquest. 92

Inevitably, the Cassiodori were involved in court intrigues, which
may be reflected in the Variae . Letters condemn the oppressions
(HI.20, 27) and inefficiency (1.35) of Faustus Niger, a great senator of
the Anician house, who probably succeeded the elder Cassiodorus as
Praetorian Prefect. His departure from office may be linked with the
recall of his predecessor to court, to serve as a councillor without
office (III.21, 28). 93 However, the difficulty of dating individual
letters, and the fact that few senators stayed long in office, make such
reconstructions of political history highly speculative. Like most leading
Romans under Theoderic, Faustus had his power base in the north of
Italy; he was a kinsman and patron of Ennodius, in whose extensive
correspondence the Cassiodori are not mentioned. Boethius was related
to both groups, but does not seem to have linked them.

92 See Bamish, 1989.

93 Cf. Hodgkin, Letters of Cassiodorus , 208, 212, Sundwall, 119; Martindale,
PLRE II, 456, is inclined to date III.21 before the Prefecture,

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4. Cassiodorus as Consul and Senator

In 512, Cassiodorus probably retired from the Quaestorship after a
lengthy tenure. 94 In 512 or 513, he was nominated Consul for 514,
presumably with the assent of the emperor Anastasius (cf. 11*1). He
was the first of his family to reach this expensive social peak, which
embodied so much of the history of Rome and the traditions of its
aristocracy. Not every noble could afford it (VI. 1.8, 10.2), and it was
usually occupied by men like Boethius (510) and Faustus (490), from
the oldest and richest senatorial houses of Rome. Inportunus (509),
whom we met in 1.27, in conflict with the plebs, is another example;
III*6 shows the terms in which Theoderic later made him a Patrician.
However, Theoderic also took the unusual step of making Consul for
511 a Gallic noble from his new territories - Felix (II. 1), perhaps a
relative of Ennodius. Like Cassiodorus, Felix had probably requested
the honour (VI. 1.8), but he seems to have found the cost of his games
rather too much for him (III.39), and had no successor from his
province. Chariot races (III. 51), wild-beast hunts (V.42), and probably
theatrical shows were expected from the Consul, not only in Rome, but
at Milan. Even the Consul Maximus, of the noble Anicii, had trouble
with the expenses (V.42).

In his Chronicle, Cassiodorus gave his Consulship credit for the
final end of the Laurentian schism, which had bitterly divided Rome
over the election and record of Pope Symmachus (498-514). 95 His
kinsman Symmachus had probably supported the Pope; his friend
Dionysius Exiguus, the anti-Pope Laurentius. 96 As Consul, he may
have assisted the smooth election of the succeeding Pope Hormisdas.
However, things had already quietened down in 506; and, unlike the
elections of 526 and 533 (VIII. 15, IX. 15-16), the schism does not

94 511 is usually given; but, in view of the date of IV.50, addressed to Faustus
as Prefect, which probably concerns an eruption of Vesuvius attested in 512,
I would reject this.

93 On this, see Pietri, Chadwick, ch.l, Richards, part ii, 5-6.

96 Cf. Richards, 82, 86.

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THE VARIAE OF CASSIODORUS

feature in the Variae.

At some point in his career, probably under Theoderic, Cassiodorus
received the high and honorary title of Patrician, like his father before
him (1.3-4; cf. HI.6). 97 Like his father, and probably during the
period between his Quaestorship and tenure of the Mastership of
Offices, he seems to have served as governor [corrector] of
Lucania-and-Bruttium, his native province (XI.39.5). Senators of the
older families often held such posts, usually for one year, and exploited
them to serve their connections - a matter of duty, rather than of shame
- and advance their local influence and popularity (compare XL39,
XH.5, 15). III. 8 and 46 are Variae from the Quaestorship period
which strongly criticise Venantius, then governor of the province. One
of his victims, I would surmise, succeeded in his appeal only through
the support of the Quaestor Cassiodorus. Venantius’ son may well have
been the Tullianus who was to muster south Italian peasants in support
of the Byzantine army in 546-7, and be rewarded with a generalship. 98
We may see this house as successful rivals to the Cassiodori.

However, during most of the period from 512 to 523, Cassiodorus
probably led the life of dignified freedom from public business ( otiutn)
proper to his class, dividing his time between Rome and his estates. As
he wrote in a formula bestowing an honorary office, ‘For what fate is
happier than to till the fields and shine in the city; the fields where his
own achievement delights its author, and no gain is made by deceit,
while the granaries are heaped full through pleasant labour’ (VI. 11.2).
Senatorial position might depend on vigorous estate management, of the
kind shown in 11.21 and m.52. 11.24-25 and XII.8 also illustrate the
ways in which senators and major landowners could use status and
influence to protect their properties from the demands of the state, and
to enhance their local independence.

We should also see him as engaged in religious and historical
studies, forming a friendship with the scholar-monk Dionysius Exiguus

97 However, this possibly came later, on his retirement from the Prefecture of
Italy, as it had for his father and Liberius; cf. Martindale, PURE II, 267.

98 Procopius, Wars VDLxviii.20-2, xxii.2-6, 20*1; cf. PLRE II, Venantius 3.

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xlvii

(Institutiones 1.23.2) and other congenial churchmen at Rome, and
increasing in the piety that was to dedicate the second half of his life
to religious scholarship at his monastery of Vivarium on his Squillace
property. (We have no record of either marriage or an heir. 99 ) For
some members of his class, sorcery was a traditional, if dangerous,
variant on religious interests; see IV.22. Were his services ever
demanded for senatorial delegations to Ravenna, or the drafting of
senatorial letters to king or emperor? (Cf. VIII* 15 and XI. 13.) The
Variae show that leading senators without office were sometimes used
by Theoderic for judicial or administrative tasks in the city of Rome,
or in senatorial circles (1.23,11.14, III. 52). Educational supervision of
the kind entrusted to Symmachus in IV. 6 would have been very
congenial to Cassiodorus - he was later to plan a Christian ‘university’
at Rome. Moreover, he shows us, in IX.21, that the Senate also had
some corporate responsibility for the management of higher education
in Rome.

In 519, he returned to prominence with a panegyric on Eutharic and
Theoderic, delivered before the Senate (MGHAA XII, 465-72). He also
composed his Chronicle , dedicated to Eutharic, and marking his
consular year (MGH AA XI). The work is jejune, but shows an interest
in cultural heroes and inventors very typical of the Variae ; it also
shows a special interest in Romano-Gothic relations. It may have
suggested to Theoderic the commissioning of the twelve book Gothic
History a few years later.

5. Cassiodorus as Master of the Offices

In 521-3, Cassiodorus’ great kinsman Boethius was at the height of
his career. He had ties of kinship and culture with Constantinople, and
Theoderic and Justin joined to nominate his two sons as Consuls for
522; in 522/3, he was appointed Master of the Offices, By his own
account, he rapidly made enemies in the attempt to check violence and

99 On pressures against reproduction by the senatorial aristocracy, see Bamish,
1988, esp. 140-9.

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corruption among Gothic and Roman officials. Through Roman malice
especially, he was implicated in a charge of a treasonable letter to the
emperor brought against a leading senator Albinus. 100 This letter may
well have been connected with the succession crisis into which
Eutharic’s death had plunged the regime. Boethius probably exploited
two roles of the Master of Offices, in diplomacy and in the
arrangement of royal audiences for senators (VI.6.2, 4), to shield
Albinus, brother of Inportunus, and extenuate his guilt. His attacker
was the Referendary Cyprian, an envoy to the east, whose work at
court included legal assistance to senators (V.41). A latent quarrel
between Senate and autocrat, as old as the Roman empire, had
emerged; so too newer tensions between Roman and barbarian.
Theoderic’s anger extended to the whole Senate, but Boethius and
Symmachus are its only attested victims. While the former awaited
death in prison, imperial persecution of eastern Arians created another
crisis. Pope John I was sent to negotiate. Failing, he suffered the royal
anger on return, and, dying soon after, was popularly regarded as a
martyr. 101

Cassiodorus was appointed to succeed Boethius, no doubt in the
hope that his skill in public relations would mend broken fences. He
failed to protect his kinsman, or to avert the religious crisis, but played
some part in the unexpectedly smooth accession of Athalaric in 526
(IX.25.7-11). His Gothic History may well have been started in those
years for purposes of tribal and dynastic propaganda . m Amalasuintha
conciliated senatorial opinion, rehabilitating the family of Boethius, and
Cassiodorus reassured the Senate that the incoming Quaestor Ambrosius
would prove a ‘guardian of the laws’ to them (VIII. 14.2). The
preceding Quaestor had already been disgraced under Theoderic; he
was probably Honoratus (V.4), brother of Boethius’ enemy Decoratus.
Relations with the emperor were even more important; see VHL1.

None of the letters written while Cassiodorus was Master were

100 C.Phil. I, prose iv; cf. Anonymus Valesianus 85-7.

101 See Chadwick, 45-69, Matthews, 1981, 25-38, Bamish, 1983 and 1990.

102 Cf. Bamish, 1984, 336-47, Heather.

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xlix

composed in that capacity, but as royal mouth-piece, deputising for the
Quaestor. (Had Boethius, a writer of greater genius, had the same
duty?) Since the Quaestor’s power was probably superior to the
Master’s, the fact suggests a high degree of influence at court. Letters
selected from this period are, on average, markedly longer than those
selected from his time as Quaestor proper, and are more apt to involve
important internal and external diplomacy than administrative chores,
especially after Theoderic’s death. The conflicts of 523-6 do not
feature, but V.40-41 and VIII.28 shed some light on two enemies of
Boethius: Cyprian and the Goth Conigastus. Cassiodorus also found
time to assist and eulogise his beloved home province (VDI.31; cf. 32
and 33).

The death of Pope John I meant another contested papal election,
and Theoderic intervened with a divided Senate to support the
candidature of Felix IV; see VIII. 15. It is tempting to surmise that
Cassiodorus, with his strong ecclesiastical interests, was involved in the
event.

VI.6, Cassiodorus’ appointment formula for the Master’s post, may
exaggerate its power. 10 It is usually held (perhaps wrongly) that
Theoderic had pensioned off the imperial bodyguards, or domestici (cf.
1.10, VI.6, note 4). As noted, the Master’s agentes in rebus had been
largely superseded by officers responsible to king and Quaestor. The
Praetorian Prefect had always shared the care of the public post with
the Master; in the Variae , he also appears as paymaster for the state
weapon factories, formerly under the charge of the Master. He may
also have quietly usurped some of the responsibility for provisioning
Ravenna from the Master, as he had done the supply of Rome from the
Urban Prefect. Of the top ministers, Praetorian Prefects and Urban
Prefects received the greatest number of Variae ; Counts of the Private
Estates and Counts of the Patrimony a handful each; and Counts of the
Sacred Largesses and Masters of Offices none at all, excepting their
letters of appointment. Laws of the eastern empire from 439 to 527
show a broadly similar pattern of addressees.

103 See Sinnigen.

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Cassiodorus did not spend long in this office under Athalaric: he
may have retired at the end of the 526-7 indiction. His departure is
sometimes associated with the victory of a Gothic chauvinist party in
the state, which resented the Roman education that Amalasuintha was
giving to Athalaric; 104 but this is extremely conjectural. By late
Roman standards, his four year tenure of office had been a lengthy one,
and he may have stayed just long enough to see the new regime
comfortably settled. His return to court in 533, as Praetorian Prefect,
has similarly been linked to Amalasuintha’s temporary defeat of the
chauvinistic Goths opposed to her; 105 on chronological grounds, this
seems a little more plausible. He reviewed his career to date, and
remarked on the enemies he had overcome in achieving his new
appointment in IX.24-25. In the second part of XI. 1, a letter, or
declamation, to the Senate thanking his benefactress, he virtually
composed a full scale panegyric. His continued tenure of office after
Theodahad’s coup may be linked with an attempt by the king to enlist
support from the friends and kinsmen of Boethius (cf. X. 11). 106

6. Cassiodorus as Praetorian Prefect

While serving in the Prefecture, Cassiodorus once again helped out
the Quaestor. Lesser administrative letters are now almost absent; what
we have is diplomatic correspondence, which illustrates the collapse of
relations with Justinian (X.20-22, 26, 32, XI.13, XH.20); letters
lauding two new rulers, and justifying a coup d’6tat (X.3, X.5, X.31);
letters of appointment; major compositions on the reform or
enforcement of existing laws; and a few other prestige documents. He
also tried to smooth over deteriorating relations between Theodahad and
the Senate and people of Rome (X.13, 14). The long Edict of Athalaric
(IX. 18 with 19-20) may indicate increasing corruption and lawlessness

104 Cf. Sundwall, 263ff.

103 Ibid., 272ff.

106 Cf. Bamish, 1990, 28-31.

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INTRODUCTION

in a collapsing state, and so the problems faced by its chief minister.
Many of the letters, especially the diplomatic pieces, seem dryer and
less elaborate than those which he had written in previous offices, or,
indeed, was then writing for himself as Prefect.

According to Procopius, the empress Theodora, fearing
Amalasuintha as a possible rival for the affections of Justinian,
prompted Theodahad to murder her, through the agency of the envoy
Peter. J.B. Bury detected sinister allusions in X.20-21 to bonds and
services between Theodora, Peter and Theodahad. 107 It is surprising,
though, that Cassiodorus should later have published compositions
which implicated the empress in the death of the emperor’s prot£g£,
and revealed himself as an accessory after the fact. One diplomatic
letter is quoted by Procopius; its wording is his own invention, but
nothing with its contents appears in the Variae. Was it edited out by
Cassiodorus, or simply drafted by another, perhaps Theodahad himself,
who therein offered Justinian his personal surrender? 108

Cassiodorus was, of course, very busy in his own ministry,
described in VI.3, in which he had quasi-regal status, with unappellable
jurisdiction, and the right to issue his own edicts. His agents in the
provinces, the cancellarii , whom he appointed himself, seem to have
been superior to the provincial governors in the control of taxation and
supply (XII.1.4). Much of the judicial burden of the Prefecture, he
claims (XI, praef. 4), was lifted from him by his young legal adviser
(consiliarius) Felix, who probably provided the same services that he
had given his father, long ago. As his deputy, particularly in matters
of supply, he appointed Ambrosius, like him a former Quaestor
(XI.4-5, XEL25; cf. VIII.13-14). , ° 9

Unlike VI.3, John Lydus’s account of the Praetorian Prefecture

107 Procopius, Anecdota 16; Bury, II, 161-9.

10i Wars V.vi. 15-21.

m Ambrosius had been Count of the Private Estates under Theoderic, and was
prominent in Amalasuintha-s new regime of 526. He may well be identical
with a protege of Ennodius, perhaps also of Symmachus and Boethius
(Ennodius 452 [ Opusc . 6]).

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THE VARIAE OF CASSIODORUS

roots it in Roman history, and shows none of Cassiodorus’ religious
feeling; Joseph as the Prefect’s biblical type goes unnoticed. 110 By
publishing the De Anima with the Variae> Cassiodorus was soon to
ground official ethics in Christian theology. A very religious sense of
duty also appears in XI.2, his inaugural letter to Pope John II; but we
cannot tell whether this document is routine, or if it genuinely reflects
Cassiodorus’ character and religious allegiances. It is interesting
evidence for the growing administrative co-operation between Church
and state from which the Pope was to emerge as governor of Byzantine
Rome.

Among Cassiodorus’ major concerns was the Joseph-like duty of
relieving a famine, climatically caused, but no doubt exacerbated by
war and politics, in north-eastern Italy. He also had to organise supplies
for court and army , drawing much of them from the same quarter of
the realm; see XIL22, 24-27. The plan which he and Pope Agapitus
had formed for a school of Christian higher education in Rome was
abandoned (Institutiones , I, praef. 1). In his native south, law and order
were apparently breaking down under the stress of war (XII.5);
Belisarius overran the region in July to October of 536, allegedly
welcomed by the Romans. * 111

During these years of growing turmoil and disaster, the taxes still
had to be gathered where possible, a watchful eye kept on the
Prefecture’s officials, and their normal rights of pay and promotion
seen to; see XI. 16, 36, XII. 16. On their counterparts in Byzantium,
cost-cutting efficiency had been imposed; but, under Cassiodorus, they
still enjoyed the prestige and luxury of fine papyrus paid for by the
state; see XI.38, (Presumably they likewise continued to collect the rich
fees and perquisites that were so heavy a burden for litigants.) And the
Prefect still exploited the benefits he conferred by composing learned
and elegant essays on the glories of Italy, including his home province;
see XI. 14, 39, XII.12, 15.

Despite the harassment of which he complains pathetically in the

110 De Magistratibus 1.14, II.6, 13-17; cf. VI.3.1f.; Genesis , ch.41.

111 Procopius, Wars V.viii. 1-2.

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liii

Preface to Book I, it is likely that the Variae were compiled before he
retired from office. This event cannot be accurately dated, but may
have happened while Witigis was besieging Belisarius in Rome, from
March 537 to March 538. At the end of 537, he may have shared in a
diplomatic mission to Belisarius (X.32, note). After retirement, he
remained in Ravenna, engaged in biblical studies, and was lucky to
escape the king’s massacre of senatorial hostages, which happened well
before the end of 537. 112 Although Witigis may have named him
Patrician, 113 he was no more able to prevent it than the executions of
Boethius and Symmachus. His loyalty to the Goths may well have been
shattered, but it is tempting to speculate that he had some hand in their
offer of the western empire to Belisarius in 540, an affair which agrees
well with the politics of the Variae . 114 But, by now, he was turning
ever more to the consolations of religion. He moved to Constantinople,
probably following the fall of Ravenna, as prisoner or refugee;
thereafter his work seems to have been chiefly that of a Christian
conversus writing primarily for a religious, rather than a social 61ite.
However, he perhaps retained that concern for the culture and morality
of public men which the Variae and De Anima display. 115

112 Expositio Psalmorum, praef. 1-5; Procopius, Wars V.xxvi.1-2.
m Above, n.97.

114 Procopius, Wars Vl.xxix-xxx.

u5 See O’Donnell, ch.4-7, Bamish, 1989, esp. 175-9, Markus, 217-22; on
possible political additions to the Gothic History at Constantinople,
Momigliano, 191-6, Bamish, 1984, 347-60.

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PREFACE

PREFACE TO BOOKS I-X 1 2

1. Although I won the favour of the eloquent not by any genuine
merits, but by the conversations we shared, or disinterested acts of
kindness, they have been urging me to collect in one volume words
poured out in my several offices to unfold the nature of items of
business. Thus, future generations may appreciate both the difficulties
of my labours, undertaken for the public good, and the unmercenary
conduct of an upright man.

2. I have replied that their love would in fact do me harm, since
writings now thought acceptable, thanks to the urgency of petitioners,
would seem inept to those who read them later. I have added that they
should recall the words of Flaccus [Horace, Ars Poetica , 390] who
warns of the danger that hasty speech can incur. 3. You see that
everyone wants a rapid response, and do you then suppose that I
produce perfection? A composition which delay has not adorned with
choice conceits, or which is unfolded with no subtle selection of words,
is always uncouth. Speech is our common gift: it is only style that
shows up the uneducated. 4. Authors are allowed nine years to write
in [Ars Poetica , 388]: I am not even given a few hours. As soon as I
begin, I am harassed and shouted at, and business, not to be too
meticulous, goes on with excessive speed. One man loads me with the
number of his detestable appeals; another punishes me with the mass
of his miseries; others besiege me with the frenzied riot of their
disputes. 5. Why do you demand the eloquence of official composition
amongst all this, when I can scarcely keep up the supply of words?
Even my nights are beset by complex anxieties, lest the cities should
lack their food supply. This is what their inhabitants expect more than
anything: their concern is not for their ears but their bellies. Hence I
am forced to travel in spirit through every province, and constantly
investigate my commands. It is not enough to order civil servants to do

1 Cassiodorus wrote a separate preface for books XI-XII.

2 Q.Horatius Flaccus, 65-8 B.C., a famous Roman poet, was much read in late antiquity.

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something, unless the minister’s diligence can be seen to enforce it. Do
not, I beseech you, harm me by your affection. Persuasion that bears
more risk than glory must be refused.

6. But they instead wore me down by this kind of argument:
‘Everyone knows you to be the Praetorian Prefect, on whose office the
public services always wait like footmen. For the army’s supplies are
demanded from it; without thought for the season, the people’s food is
requested from it; on it too is thrown a great weight merely of judicial
cases. The laws, then, have placed on it a vast burden, by deciding
that, for the sake of the honour, almost everything should relate to it.
For what time can you steal from public toil, when all that the co mmo n
good demands unites in your one breast? 7. We also mention that you
are often burdened by assisting the Quaestorship, when your many
ponderings deprive you of leisure time; and, as though you were a
labourer in the lesser offices, the princes give you business from other
ministries which the proper magistrates cannot unravel. This, however,
you accomplish by selling no favour; instead, following your own
father’s example, you accept from petitioners only toil. Thus, by
granting to suitors without a fee, you purchase all things with the gift
of integrity. 8. Of course, the glorious councils of kings also have the
power to occupy you for the public good during the greater part of the
day, so that it would be a burden to expect from men at leisure what
you evidently sustain by unceasing toil. But the fact that, under such
conditions, you can produce words worth reading may serve you all the
more in winning praise.

‘Then, your work may inoffensively educate uncultivated men who
must be trained 3 for the service of the state in conscious eloquence:
those in calm waters may more happily acquire the style that you
practise while tossed among the dangers of disputants. 9. Similarly -
and this you cannot ignore while preserving your usual loyalty - if you
allow such royal favours to pass unnoticed, you have preferred that
generous haste should confer them in vain. Do not, we beg of you,
recall to silence and obscurity those who were worthy to receive

3 1 have followed Traube’s suggested emendation of praeparatos to praeparandos .

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PREFACE

illustrious honours by your proclamation. For you took on the duty of
describing them with true praise, and of painting them, in some
measure, with the pigment of history. If you hand down their fame to
posterity, in accordance with ancestral custom, you have nullified death
for those who perished gloriously. 4 10. Then again, you employ the
king’s authority to correct evil characters, you shatter the insolence of
the transgressor, you restore respect to the laws. And do you still
hesitate to publish what you show may have such utility?

Tf I may say so, you would also be concealing the mirror of your
own mind, in which every age to come might behold you. For it often
happens that men beget sons unlike themselves; but it is hard to find
discourse that does not conform to character. That child of one’s own
choosing is, then, much the more certain one, for what is bom from
the secret place of the heart is supposed with greater truth to be its
parent’s offspring. 11. Moreover, you have often spoken panegyrics to
kings and queens with general applause; you have composed the history
of the Goths in twelve books, anthologising their successes. Since
things went well for you on those occasions, and you are already
known to have published your prentice pieces in oratory, why do you
hesitate to give these also to the public?’ 5

12. I am conquered -1 confess it to my shame. I could not resist so
many men of wisdom, when I saw myself being reproved out of love.
Now forgive me, my readers; and, if there is anything rash and
irregular, ascribe it rather to my advisers, since my own verdict clearly
agrees with my accuser. 13. And therefore, I have put together all that
I could find of my compositions made on various public affairs while
I held the posts of Quaestor, Master, and Prefect. They are arranged
in twelve books, so that, although the reader’s attention may be
stimulated by the diverse subject matter, his mind, nonetheless, shall
be more effectively hurried on when he approaches the end. 14. Now
I have not allowed others to endure what I have often rushed into in the

4 This passage probably echoes Tacitus, Agricola 1.1, 46.4.

5 The surviving fragments of the panegyrics date to 519 and the end of 536: perhaps
recently published, but hardly ‘prentice pieces’.

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granting of honours: hasty and unpolished declamations, which are so
suddenly demanded that it seems they can hardly even be written down.
Therefore, I have included formulae of all posts of honour in the sixth
and seventh books, that I might thus take some belated thought for
myself, and bring speedy aid to my successors. 6
In this way, what I said about people in the past also suits those to
come, since I have set out what is fitting not about individuals, but
about the offices themselves.

15. Now, as the title of the books, that tell-tale of the work, herald
of the contents, summary of the whole treatise, I have assigned the
name of Variae ; for, since I had various persons to admonish, I had to
adopt more styles than one. For in one manner you must address and
persuade men glutted with much reading; in another those titillated with
a small taste; in another those who are starved of the savour of letters,
so that it may sometimes be a kind of art to avoid what would please
the learned. 16. Accordingly, it is a fine rule of our ancestors, that you
should speak with such fitness as to sway the hopes your hearers have
already conceived. For it was not in vain that the wisdom of the
ancients defined three modes of oratory: the humble, that seems to
creep along in true lowliness; the middle, which is neither swollen with
magnificence, nor thin and impoverished, but is placed between the
two, enriched with its own beauty, and contained in its own bounds;
and the third, which is raised to the highest peak of argument by choice
conceits. Clearly, different persons may thus enjoy the eloquence which
suits them; and, though it may flow from a single breast, it does so in
separate streams. For no one can be called eloquent unless he is armed
with this threefold style, and equipped like a man for any case that may
arise. 17. In addition, I sometimes address kings, sometimes ministers,
sometimes people of low rank; some of my words to them were rapidly
poured out, but others I could produce after thought. Thus, a
compilation of such diversity should rightly be entitled Variae . But I
hope that, as I have evidently received these modes from the ancient
rules, even so they may unlock the merits of the promised composition.

6 Cassiodorus’ Latin is markedly more careful in Books VI-VII; cf. Viden, 140-4.

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PREFACE

18. Therefore, I modestly promise to produce the humble; the middle
I guarantee without dishonesty; but the high, which, because of its
nobility, is appointed for solemn compositions I do not believe that
I have reached. But, since I am to be read, this illegitimate defence in
advance must cease. For it is unfitting to be thus disputing about
myself; I should rather submit to your judgement.

[The pressure of friends, and the modesty of a reluctant author, are rhetorical
commonplaces, and need not be taken at face value.]

1 The MSS offer several readings; in edita dictione is Fridh’s conjecture, followed here;
Mommsen conjectures in editiore; one MS has in edicto.

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1.3 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS PATRICIAN
CASSIODORUS (a.507?)

1. Although what is naturally praiseworthy enjoys its own honour;
although tried integrity wields official power, since it begets high
offices on the soul - for all good things are united to with their fruits,
and virtue unrewarded is incredible - nonetheless, the peak of my good
opinion is a lofty one, for he whom I promote is seen to be rich in
outstanding merit, 2. For, if a just man’s choice should be considered
impartial, or a temperate man’s nominee to be endowed with
self-restraint, he who has earned the approval of the judge of every
virtue is clearly fitted for every reward. For what greater honour can
be sought than to find a witness to one’s praise where there is no
suspicion of prejudice? Assuredly, a ruler’s verdict is formed from acts
alone, and a soul strengthened by kingly power cannot stoop to flattery.

3. Of course, the actions that blended you with my consciousness
must be recalled: when you realise that each deed is a pleasing fixture
in my mind, you will receive the reward of your toil. Why, you were
a loyal subject at the very outset of my reign: when the hearts of the
provincials were going astray in those uncertain conditions, and sheer
novelty allowed contempt for an untried master, you diverted from rash
resistance the minds of mistrustful Sicilians, preventing their crime, and
my need to punish it. 1 4. Wholesome persuasion, not stem vengeance,
put matters right. You averted a fine from a province, which, in its
loyalty, deserved to avoid it. There, in military dress, you upheld the
civil laws; as a judge without avarice, you weighed up both the public
and the private good; neglecting your own property, making no
invidious profit, you gained the riches of good character, and gave no
entrance to quarrels, no room to detraction. In a land which seldom
exports silence and patience, the voices of your praisers fought for you.
For we know, by Tully’s [Cicero’s] testimony, how quarrelsome the

1 The elder Cassiodorus was probably governor of Sicily, c.489/93; he was perhaps
appointed by Odoacer.

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Sicilians naturally are, so that it is their usual custom to accuse their
governors on mere suspicion. 5. But I was not content with that
glorious result: I gave you the conduct of Lucania-and-Bruttium to
control [as governor], lest the fortune of your native land should not
experience the good which a foreign province had earned. 2 You,
though, lavished your usual loyalty, and put me under an obligation
through the very gift by which I had thought to repay you everything
- you increased the debt where it might have been discharged. In ail
things, you played the magistrate free from all error, crushing no man
through spite, and exalting no man through favour and flattery. As this
is a difficult achievement anywhere, in one’s own country it is glorious.
There it is inevitable either that kinship should lead to favour, or that
prolonged disputes should arouse hatred. 6. Again, it gives me pleasure
to recall the acts of your Prefecture, a most renowned blessing to the
whole of Italy, in which you ordered all things with foresight, and
proved how easy it is to render taxes under an honest magistrate, 3 No
one grudges what he pays up under an equitable administration, since
a properly ordered levy is not considered a loss. 7. Now enjoy your
blessings, and receive twofold your personal profit, which you spumed
with public approval. For this is a glorious gain in life, when you enjoy
the praise of your fellow citizens, and your masters bear witness to
your merits.

8. Stimulated, therefore, by this most lavish praise, I confer on you,
as a just recompense, the honour of the Patriciate, so that what to
others is a reward shall to you be merely the payment of your deserts.
Most eminent of men, triumph in your praise and good fortune. You
have compelled your master’s heart to this confession: he must admit
his gift to be really your own property. May heaven make this honour
perpetual: 4 thus, although I have granted it as a recompense, I may at

2 This governorship must date c.491/505.

3 This Prefecture must date c.503/6.

4 The accepted Sint haec divina perpetua does not make very good sense in context; I
follow Traube’s emendation of sint to duint (index, s.v. divina). Certain MSS read Sint
haec divino perpetrata auspicio - ‘may Providence approve the honour conferred’.

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another time bestow still greater rewards on your virtues.

L4 KING THEODERIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF
ROME (date as 1.3)

1. Truly I desire, fathers of the Senate, that your garland should be
coloured with the flower of the various offices; I desire that the Spirit
of Liberty should behold a thronged and grateful Senate. Yes, an
assembly of such offices is an honour to the ruler, and all that you
view with joyful satisfaction is rightly ascribed to my credit. 2. But
this is my special wish: that the lamps of high honours should adorn
your order, when those who have grown in power at court duly render
the harvest to their fatherland. My gaze inspects these men; I rejoice
to find in them a treasure of good character, in which, as if by coin
portraits of honours, the kindness of my serenity is expressed.

3. Hence it is that I have rewarded the illustrious Cassiodorus, a
man famous for the highest distinction in the state, with the exalted
rank of Patrician: thus the honour of a great title may proclaim the
merits of my servant. He is not a man borne on in the game of fortune
by brittle luck, who has flitted by sudden promotions to the highest
dignity; rather, since virtues are usually of gradual growth, he has
ascended to the peak of glory by the regular steps of office. 4. For, as
you know, his first entry to the administration was based on the
foundation of the Countship of the Private Estates. 5 He did not waver
there with a beginner’s weakness, nor go astray through the fault of
inexperience, but, on the sure footing of self-restraint, he lived an
example to all. He soon received the honour of the Sacred Largesses,
and grew as much in renown for his conduct as he had advanced in
office. 5. Why need I tell of the good order he restored to the
provinces, or mention the records of the justice he instilled into men of
every condition? He lived with such integrity that he both established

3 Like the Sacred Largesses, this office was apparently granted by Odoacer, between 476
and 490. The elder Cassiodorus was starting his career as one of the seven top ministers!

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impartiality by his commands, and taught it by personal example. For
an uncorrupt magistrate is a ready advocate of the right: his noble
conduct shames the disreputable. For who will shun the crime whose
accomplice he sees aloft on the tribunal? When the avaricious man
condemns corruption, when the unjust decrees that the laws must be
observed, he vainly assumes the mask of feigned severity. He to whom
an untroubled conscience does not give authority lacks the spirit of
government, since excesses are held in fear only when they are thought
to offend the magistrates.

6. Trained, then, in these exercises under the preceding king
[Odoacer], he came to my palace with a well earned reputation. For
you remember - and, by now, I am reminding you of recent events -
with what moderation he sat on the Praetorian summit, when placed
there. Borne up to the height, from that position he despised the vices
of the successful all the more. 7. Indeed, no gift of fortune so elated
him, as is the way with many, that he raised himself on the actor’s
boots of great power; rather, he directed all things with justice, and did
not make my favour hated in his person. He caused greater things to
be hoped for himself, while confining his greatness within the bounds
of moderation. For hence comes that most welcome harvest of proven
integrity, the fact that, although a man may have reached the heights,
all still judge him to deserve more. He well joined the royal income
with the general happiness, generous to the treasury, and just but
obliging to the tax-payers. 8. The commonwealth then experienced a
man of honour from the assembly of Romulus [the Senate]; a man who,
while making himself glorious by his self restraint, achieved something
still greater, in bequeathing to his successors a model of upright action.
For he who is able to succeed men of reputation is ashamed to do
wrong. As you are aware, then, he was terrible to public servants, mild
to the provincials, greedy of giving, too proud to receive, a hater of
crime, a lover of justice. A man who had made it his rule to refrain
from the property of others found this easy to observe. For it is a sign
of an unconquered soul to love the profit of good fame, and to hate the
gains that come from law-suits.

9. But it is those unacquainted with the noble characters of his
father and grandfather who have the right to wonder at these traits.

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Truly, fame also celebrates the previous Cassiodori. Although that
name may run in others, it still belongs especially to his family. An
ancient stock, a race much praised, its members are honoured among
civilians, outstanding among soldiers, since they have flourished alike
in health and strength. 10. Now the father of this candidate held with
credit the office of Tribune-and-Secretary under the emperor
Valentinian [III], an honour then given to outstanding men, since only
those in whom no censurable fault can be found may be chosen for the
emperor’s privy affairs. 11. But, since like spirits always choose each
other out, he was allied by bonds of great affection to the Patrician
Aetius for the service of the state - Aetius, whose counsel the master
of the empire then followed in all things, because of his wisdom, and
his glorious labours in the state. Together with Aetius’ son Carpilio, he
was therefore charged, and not in vain, with the office of envoy to that
mighty warrior Attila. 6 He beheld without terror one whom the empire
feared; trusting in his honesty, he despised those terrible frowns and
threats, and did not hesitate to meet in argument a man who, as the
prey of some mysterious madness, was patently seeking the dominion
of the world. 12. He found the king arrogant; he left him pacified, and
demolished his libellous accusations with such honesty that he decided
to ask for favour, although it was to his advantage to have no peace
with so rich a realm. By his steadfastness, Cassiodorus gave hope to
frightened politicians; and those who were armed with envoys of such
character were not thought unfit for war. He brought back a peace
unhoped for. The benefits of his embassy are clear, since it was
received as gratefully as it had been earnestly desired. 13. Soon the
righteous ruler was offering him gifts of revenues, and the honour of
illustrious rank. But instead, he was enriched by his native
self-restraint, and, receiving an honorary office, chose the pleasures of
Bruttium in place of reward. The emperor could not refuse this
longed-for peace to one who had given him safety from a ferocious
enemy; he released with sorrow from his service one whom he knew

6 This embassy is not otherwise attested; it should date between 435 and 449. On Attila,
see glossary.

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he needed. 14. For grandfather Cassiodorus, distinguished by that
honour of illustrious rank which could not be denied to his house,
delivered Bruttium and Sicily by armed resistance from Vandal
invasion: hence he deservedly held the chief place in those provinces
which he defended from so savage and unpredictable an enemy. To his
virtues, then, the state owed it that those inner provinces were not
seized by Genseric, whose rage Rome afterwards endured. 7 15. But the
Cassiodori have also flourished with their kindred honoured in the east.
For Heliodorus, who, as I saw, administered Prefectures in that state
with distinction for eighteen years, was known as a member of the
family. 8 It is a house glorious in either realm; joined with grace to the
twin Senates, as though it were endowed with two eyes, it has shone
with the purest radiance. Has any noble family anywhere spread itself
wider than this one, which has earned honour in either realm?

16. This Cassiodorus himself, moreover, has lived in his province
with the honour of a governor, and the tranquillity of a private person.
Superior to them all in his nobility, he drew the hearts of all men to
himself: those who, by their rights of freedom, could not be enslaved,
were instead bound to him sweetly by successive benefits. 17. Indeed,
he is also so distinguished by the wealth of his patrimony that, among
other blessings, he surpasses princes in his horse-herds, and averts
envy by his frequent gifts. Hence, my candidate regularly equips the
Gothic army, and, improving on good principles, has preserved the
inheritance he received from his parents.

18. My esteem for him has recounted all this in order, so that each
of you may understand that he who resolves to live by honourable
principles can renew the fame of his kindred at my court. And
therefore, fathers of the Senate, since it pleases you to honour the
good, and since your assent accompanies my judgement, vote

7 * Grand father Cassiodorus 1 is father of the ambassador, grandfather of the new Patrician,
and great-grandfather of the author. His defence of Bruttium and Sicily may have been
in 440; the Vandal king Genseric sacked Rome in 455.

8 A Heliodorus is attested as a Praetorian Prefect, or Urban Prefect of Constantinople in
468; Cassiodorus’ praefecturam must be translated as plural; cf. PURE II, 53If.

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favourably for the promotion of a man who has won general goodwill.
For it is more an exchange than a reward, that those who have adorned
you with praiseworthy actions should be thanked with a reciprocal
favour.

1.10 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS PATRICIAN
BOETHIUS (a.507-12)

1. While the whole people should be granted the co mmo n justice
that wins the honour of its name by extending its equitable control
equally among the great and humble, those who remain in the service
of the palace still seek it with special confidence. For on men of leisure
the royal generosity bestows its gifts gratuitously; but customary
rewards are paid as a kind of debt to the dutiful retainer.

2. The horse and foot guards, who keep constant watch over my
court, have made this complaint to me in a joint petition - the usual
result of serious grievances: they do not receive solidi of full weight as
their customary wages from X the Prefect’s treasurer, and they suffer
heavy losses in the number of coins. Therefore, your wisdom, trained
by learned texts, is to expel this criminal falsehood from the company
of truth, so that no one shall be tempted to diminish that purity.

3. For, among the world’s incertitudes, this thing called arithmetic
is established by a sure reasoning that we comprehend as we do the
heavenly bodies. It is an intelligible pattern, a beautiful system, an
integral study, an unchanging science, that both binds the heavens and
preserves the earth. For is there anything that lacks measure, or
transcends weight? It includes all, it rules all, and all things have their
beauty because they are perceived under its standard. 4. It is a pleasure
to observe how the decad [denarius], like the heavens, turns on itself,
and is never found to be lacking. That same reckoning increases on
new terms, constantly added to itself by repeating itself, so that, 9
although the decad is not exceeded, it has the power to build up large

9 Fridh (1950, 72f.) rejects Mommsen’s emendation of ut to et.

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numbers from small. This process is many times repeated: by bending
and straightening the fingers of the hand, it is prolonged indefinitely;
and, for every time that the computation is brought back to its
beginning, it is unquestionably increased by so much. 10 The sands of
the sea, the drops of rain, the shining stars are defined by a calculable
quantity. Indeed, to the author of its being [God], every creature is
numbered, and nothing that comes into existence can be separated from
that condition.

5. And - since it is my delight to discourse with learned men on the
more mysterious elements of this discipline - although coins themselves
may seem contemptible from their common use, we should still remark
with how much reason they were marshalled by die men of old. They
decided that 6000 denarii should form a solidus with this aim, that the
shaped circle of shining metal, as if it were solar gold, should fittingly
imply the time-span of the world. But, as for the hexad [senarius] 9
which learned antiquity rightly defined as the perfect number, they
stamped it with the name of the ounce [undo] which is the prime unit
of measure; and, by reckoning it twelve times, like the months, they
made up the full pound to match the courses of the year. * 11 6. O, the
inventions of the wise, the judgement of our ancestors! They discovered
something which both marks off what is necessary to human purposes,
and figuratively implies so many mysteries of nature. Rightly, then, it
is called a pound, since it is weighed 12 by such contemplation of the
world.

16 This obscure passage seems to describe the origin and arithmetical uses of the decimal
base; ten was regarded with reverence in the Pythagorean tradition which influenced
Boethius.

11 At this time, at least in Italy, 6000 silver denarii (= 12000 copper nummi ) were
probably notionally reckoned to one gold solidus. For special occasions, a 6-solidus
piece, probably called a senarius , might be struck; this weighed 1/12 (uncia) of a pound
(libra) of gold. The hexad or six (senarius) was the first perfect number (i.e. number
equal to the sum of its own factors) after the monad; in a tradition going back to Philo
(fl. c.A.D.10), it was regarded with reverence. Christians sometimes held that the world
would last for 6000 years. Cassiodorus plays on the words sol , meaning sun, and solidus.

12 Libra can denote a pound, or a pair of scales.

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The violation, then, of such mysteries, the will so to confound
certainties, surely this is a foul and cruel mangling of truth itself?
Trading in goods should continue; men may buy cheap and sell dear;
and the people must have reliable weights and measures, since
everything is confused if frauds and purity mingle. 7. Clearly, what is
granted to workers should not be pruned; rather, where honest service
is exacted, let an undiminished reward be bestowed. Give a solidus , by
all means, and reduce it again, if you can; hand over a pound, and
diminish it, if you are able. Against these actions, there is an obvious
defence in the very names of the things: either you render the entire
sum, or you are not paying what those names refer to. You cannot in
any way, you cannot designate whole units, while making criminal
reductions. See to it, then, both that the ruler of the treasury obtains his
just and customary perquisites, and that what I bestow on the well
deserving, they receive intact.

[For one discussion of this letter and contemporary coinage, see Cuppo Csaki.
Cassiodorus neither explains precisely how the abuses were achieved, nor what Boethius
was meant to do about them; tampering with the scales is suggested by the text (6; cf.
the much plainer language of 11.25 and XI. 16 on scale-frauds). Debasement of the solidus
by mint officials was an old problem, periiaps continuing; cf. VII.32.2. The Byzantine
grammarian Priscian (c.510) dedicated to Symmachus a treatise on numerical notation
which includes remarks on weights and coins (De Figuris Numeromm , ed. H. Keil,
Grammatici Latini III), suggesting some interest among Boethius 1 circle. On Boethius*
arithmetical studies, see Chadwick, 71-8; his De Arithmetica 1.1-2 shares certain themes
with Cassiodorus* praise of mathematics.]

1.17 KING THEODERIC TO ALL GOTHS AND ROMANS LIVING
AT DERTONA 13 (a.507-8)

1. Advised by the calculation of public utility, a care which is
always a welcome burden to me, I command that the castle sited near

13 Dertona (now Tortona) was the site of a state granary and major road junction,
strategically located to defend Liguria from invasion over the western Alps. A number
of Gothic graves have been found there.

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you be strengthened, since matters of war are well ordered when
planned in time of peace. Indeed, a fortification is made especially
strong when reinforced by prolonged planning. Anything done in haste
is evidently ill-advised, and it is a bad thing to demand building on a
site when danger is already feared. 2. Then too, the heart itself cannot
be ready for a deed of daring when it is troubled by various anxieties.
This deed our ancestors rightly termed an expedition, 14 since a mind
devoted to war should not be occupied by other thoughts. Therefore,
a matter recommended by consideration of the common good should be
welcomed; and it is wrong that an order clearly of special assistance to
the loyal should meet with delay.

3. So, by this authority I decree that you are speedily to build
yourselves houses in the aforementioned fort. You will thereby repay
me: for, even as I plan for your good, I will feel that you are
glorifying my reign with beautiful buildings. For it will then be the
case that you will want to assemble the luxuries proper to your new
homes, and you will welcome dwellings whose own architecture makes
them a pleasure to you. 15 4. What an advantage it will be to live in
your own homes, while the enemy endures the harshest quarters! He
will be exposed to the rains; you will be shielded by a roof; hunger will
gnaw him; you will be refreshed by your stores. So, while you remain
in perfect safety, your enemy will suffer the fate of the loser before the
battle is fought. For clearly, in time of need, he who is not distracted
among many cares will be proved the bravest. For could anyone
suppose a man wise if he starts to build or lay up supplies only when
he should be thinking of war?

14 Expeditio and related words can mean a march in light order; also, a more general
freedom from burdens.

15 A move to a fort on the hill above the town (then unwalled) is probably meant; a
permanent change in settlement did not result; for comparable refuges in the eastern Alps,
cf. IH.48 (Doss Trento above Trento), Alfoldy, 91f., 214-20.

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LIS KING THEODERIC TO DOMITIANUS AND WILIA (a.507-12)

1, You who have taken up the work of proclaiming law to the
people should observe and cultivate justice. For a man who is supposed
to restrain others under the rule of law must not do wrong, lest he
should become an example of crime, when he was chosen for a worthy
task. And therefore I have taken care to answer your queries, so that
you cannot go wrong through uncertainty, but only - what should never
be - through the will to transgress.

2. If, after the date [489] when, by God’s favour, I crossed the
river Isonzo, and the realm of Italy first received me, a barbarian
occupier has seized the estate of a Roman, without a warrant
[pittacium] taken from any assigning officer [delegator], he is to restore
it without delay to its former master. But, if he has evidently entered
the property before that time, since the thirty year limitation is clearly
an objection, I decree that the plaintiffs claim is to fall. 16 3. For I
want only those matters brought to judgement which I condemn as acts
of seizure made in my reign, since there is no room left for idle
accusations when the obscurity of many years has passed.

4. As for the case of the man who merely struck, without also
killing, his brother: although he is condemned by the common law, and
parricide is the only thing to surpass this defendant’s tragedy,
nonetheless, my humanity, which seeks out room for pity even among
the impiously criminal, rules, by this authority, that a man of such ill
omen shall be expelled from the province. For those who hate the
society of their relatives do not deserve the company of fellow citizens,
lest dark spots pollute the pleasant radiance of a stainless body.

16 A praescriptio temporis prohibited the raising of actions after that period; cf. II .27.2.
Lawsuits over Odoacers settlement, in or soon after 476, are envisaged. On the Gothic
settlement, see further, note to 11.16.

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1.23 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS PATRICIANS
CAELIANUS AND AGAPITUS 17 (a.509-12)

1. Since universal love for peace wins praise for the ruler, it is right
that the royal glory should take care to maintain public harmony. For
what does me more honour than a tranquil people, a harmonious
Senate, and an entire commonwealth clothed in the seemliness of my
ways?

2. Hence it is that, by this command, I decree that the magnificent
Patricians Festus and Symmachus shall present in your court the case
they claim to have against the illustrious Patrician Paulinus. When this
has been received in legal form, and settled, if the law allows, then the
Patrician Paulinus shall in turn bring forward whatever action he lays
claim to against their aforementioned magnificences. I wish for no
delay in the verdict on his suit either, since I would wish everything
that lies between them to be decided, and nothing save the duties of
affection to remain. 18

3. Remember, therefore, that you are chosen as arbiters in so great
a case; remember that my expectation demands equitable justice. You
will yield me a rich fruit of gratitude if this trial proves those thought
worthy to judge it to be equal to their task. For special care should be
taken over men who can give clear examples to those of lesser rank.
For he who fails to do away with litigation among the great
unquestionably licenses the rest of society to imitate it.

11 For the court of these Patricians, cf. 1.27; it was perhaps an ad hoc , rather than a
permanent tribunal.

11 Symmachus is Boethius’ father-in-law, Festus, Consul in 472, currently senior senator
(caput senatus ); Paulinus had been Consul in 498; nothing further is known of their
litigation. The chronicler Malalas (384) tells how Theoderic executed lawyers who had
prolonged a senatorial lawsuit for 30 years!

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1.25 KING THEODERIC TO THE DISTINGUISHED
SABINIANUS 19 (a.507-12)

1. It is useless to build firmly at the outset if lawlessness has the
power to ruin what has been designed: for those things are strong,
those things enduring, which wisdom has begun and care preserved.
And therefore, greater attention must be exercised in conserving than
in planning them, since a plan at its outset deserves commendation, but
from preservation we gain the glory of completion.

2. Now, some time ago, for the sake of Rome’s public monuments,
to which it will be my unwearying aim ever to devote attention, I
decreed that the depot of Licinus \portus Licini] should be repaired
from the revenues assigned, to supply 25,000 tiles annually. 20 This
should also apply to the associated depots which once belonged to that
place, and which, it is reported, have now been illicitly taken over by
various persons. 3. Therefore, without delay, you are to have
everything returned to supplying the statutory quantity; for, although,
out of reverence for them, my commands should be violated in no
matter, I especially want those which beautify the city to be observed.
For who would doubt that wonderful buildings are saved by this
provision, and that vaults rounded with overhanging stonework are
preserved by tiled roofing? Past princes should rightly owe me their
praise: I have conferred long-lasting youth on their buildings, ensuring
that those clouded by old age and decay shall shine out in their original
freshness.

19 Sabinianus may have been the state architect at Rome; cf. VII. 15, which shows the post
to have been theoretically under the Urban Prefect, although the king made the
appointment.

20 The Portus Licini , used for drying and storing new bricks or tiles, had been state
property since the early 3rd century; the 25,000 are no great quantity, and may be a tax
on private users; Theoderic’s brick-stamps are numerous in Rome. Cf. Corpus
Inscriptionum Latinarum XV. 1, p.121, and nos. 1663-70; Steinby, 114, 146ff,, 153f.,
157ff.

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1.27 KING THEODERIC TO SPECIOSUS 21 (a.509)

1. If I am ruling the manners of foreign tribes in accordance with
the law; if every land that is joined to Italy obeys the Roman code, how
much more is it right for the very seat of social order [civilitas] to hold
the laws in high reverence, so that, through this example of restraint,
the beauty of high offices may shine out? For where can we look for
the spirit of restraint if violence defiles the Patricians?

2. Now it has been reported to me by a complaint of the people of
the Green faction - since they have, resolved to come to my court, and
request the usual help - that they were violently attacked by the
Patrician Theodorus and the illustrious Consul Inportunus; in
consequence, one of them is mourned as dead. 22 3. If this is true, I
am much moved by the savagery of the deed, that rage should arm
itself and harass the harmless people whom civic affection ought to
cherish. But because the condition of lesser men justly claims the
ruler’s aid, I command by this order that the illustrious persons named
above must make no delay, but send, with you to see to it, men
properly briefed, to the tribunal of Caelianus and Agapitus, both of
illustrious rank. 23 Their court of inquiry must end in a careful and
legal verdict.

4. But lest, perchance, men of exalted rank should be offended by
the babbling of the mob, a distinction must be drawn as to such
impertinence. A man who has injured a reverend senator as he passes
by his insolence, cursing him when he ought to bless him, must be held
responsible for a crime. But who looks for serious conduct at the public
shows? A Cato never goes to the circus. 5. Anything said there by the
people as they celebrate should be deemed no injury. It is a place that
protects excesses. Patient acceptance of their chatter is a proven glory
of princes themselves. Those who are involved in such enthusiasm

21 Speciosus may have been a comitiacus.

22 On the circus factions, cf. 111.51.5,11; on Theodorus and Inportunus, III.6. Inportunus
is the current Consul, and giver of games and races.

23 Cf. note to 1.23.

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should answer me this question: if they hope that their opponents will
keep quiet, they clearly desire their victory, since men break out into
insults only when they are blushing for a shameful defeat. Why, then,
do they choose to be angered at what they know they have certainly
desired?

1.45 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS PATRICIAN
BOETHIUS (c.506)

1.1 should not reject requests made by neighbouring kings to please
their vanity, since a small expenditure can often purchase more than
great riches. For sweetness and pleasure many times produce what
weapons fail to do. May it then serve the state, even when I seem to
play. For it is for this reason that I am looking for toys, to achieve a
serious purpose by their means.

2. Now the lord of the Burgundians [Gundobad] has earnestly asked
me to send him one time-piece which is regulated by a measured flow
of water, and one whose nature it is to receive the light of the mighty
sun, together with those who can operate them. So, by obtaining and
enjoying these pleasures, they will experience a wonder which to me
is a common-place. It is very proper that they should long to see
something which has astonished them through the reports of their
ambassadors.

3. I have learnt that you, clothed in your great learning, are so
knowledgeable in this that arts which men practise in customary
ignorance, you have drunk from the very spring of science. For, at
long distance, you so entered the schools of Athens, you so mingled in
your toga among their cloaked assemblies, that you turned Greek
theories into Roman teaching. 24 For you have discovered with what
deep thought speculative philosophy, in all its parts, is pondered, by
what mental process practical reasoning, in all its divisions, is learnt,
as you transmitted to Roman senators every wonder that the sons of

24 Cf. Cassiodoms on himself: ‘He turned Gothic origins into Roman history’ (IX.25.5).

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Cecrops [Athenians] have given the world. 4. For it is in your
translations that Pythagoras die musician and Ptolemy the astronomer
are read as Italians; that Nicomachus on arithmetic and Euclid on
geometry are heard as Ausonians [Italians]; that Plato debates on
metaphysics and Aristotle on logic in the Roman tongue; you have even
rendered Archimedes the engineer to his native Sicilians in Latin
dress. 25 And all the arts and sciences which Greek eloquence has set
forth through separate men, Rome has received in her native speech by
your sole authorship. Your verbal splendour has given them such
brightness, the elegance of your language such distinction, that anyone
acquainted with both works would prefer yours to the original.

You have entered a glorious art, marked out among the noble
disciplines, through four gates of learning. 26 5. Drawn in by authors'
works, you have come to know it where it sits in the inner shrine of
nature, through the light of your own genius; it is your practice to
understand its problems, your purpose to demonstrate its wonders. It
labours to display events that men may wonder at; altering the course
of nature in a wonderful way, it takes away belief in the facts, despite
displaying images to the eyes. It causes water to rise from the deep and
fall headlong, a fire to move by weights; it makes organs swell with
alien notes, and supplies their pipes with air from outside, so that they
resound with great subtlety. 6. By its means, we see the defences of

25 Pythagoras: philosopher, mathematician and musical theorist, fl. c.530 B.C.; he
probably left no writings, but Boethius may have translated works of his school.
Ptolemy: astronomer, musical theorist, mathematician and geographer, fl. A.D. 127/48;
no Boethian translation from him survives. Nicomachus: a lst/2nd c. A.D.
mathematician; Boethius* De Institutions Arithmetica adapts his introduction to arithmetic.
Euclid: a mathematician, fl. c.300 B.C.; fragments of Boethius* translation of his
Elements may survive. Plato: a philosopher, c.429-347 B.C.; Boethius planned a
complete translation of his Dialogues , of which nothing survives, if it was ever begun.
Aristotle: a philosopher and scientist, 384-322 B.C.; Boethius planned, but did not finish
a complete translation of his works. Archimedes: a Sicilian Greek mathematician and
engineer, c.287-212 B.C.; no Boethian translation from him survives.

26 Tu artem praedictam ... introisti. Since engineering has been mentioned only briefly
among many arts, 1 have conjecturally emended praedictam to praedicatam. On the
quadrivium , cf. Boethius, De Arithmetical praef. and 1.1.

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endangered cities suddenly arise with such solidity that machinery gives
the advantage to a man who despaired at their lack of strength.
Waterlogged buildings are drained while still in the sea; hard objects
are disintegrated by an ingenious device. Objects of metal give out
sounds: a bronze statue of Diomedes blows a deep note on the trumpet;
a bronze snake hisses; model birds chatter, and those that had no
natural voice are found to sing sweetly. 7. I shall say a little about the
skill which imitates the heavens without sin. This has set a second sun
to revolve in the sphere of Archimedes; by human ingenuity, this has
constructed another circle of the Zodiac; by the light of art, this has
shown how the moon recovers from its waning, and set turning by an
invisible mechanism a tiny device pregnant with the world, a portable
sky, a compendium of the universe, a mirror of nature which reflects
the heavens. 27 Although we know the course of the stars, our eyes
cheat us, and we cannot see them moving in this way: indeed, their
transit is static, and you cannot see in motion what you know by true
reason is passing swiftly. 8. What it is for man actually to create this
device! - even to understand it may be a remarkable achievement.

Since you are adorned by your glorious acquaintance with such
matters, send me, therefore, the time-pieces, at public expense, without
cost to yourself. Let the first be one where a gnomon marks the day,
and shows the hours by its meagre shadow [a sun-dial]. In this way a
small, unmoving circle represents the revolution of the sun’s amazing
vastness, and equals the sun’s flight, although it knows no motion. 9.
If the stars were aware of it, they would be envious, and perhaps turn
their courses, not to be the butt of such a joke. What has become of the
great wonder of hours produced by the light, if it is a mere shadow that
indicates them? Where is the glory of that unwearied rotation, if even
a piece of metal fixed in a constant place can accomplish it? O the
inestimable quality of a science which is mighty enough to disclose the
secrets of nature, while it claims to be only playing! 10. The second
time-piece must be one by which the hours are known without the sun’s

27 The sphere of Archimedes was a precursor of the orrery - a mechanical model of the
planetary movements; cf. Cicero, De Republica 1.21 ff., Claudian, Carmina Minora li.

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rays, and which divides the night into parts. Owing nothing to the stars,
it instead turns the nature of the heavens into streams of water, and
shows by their motions what revolves in the sky. With daring audacity,
an invented art confers on the elements what their nature denies
them. 28

All the disciplines, the whole endeavour of the wise, seek to know
the power of nature so far as they can. Only engineering tries to imitate
it by contraries, and, in some things, if it is proper to say so, even
seeks to surpass it. For this art, we know, made Daedalus fly; it
suspends the iron Cupid without support in the temple of Diana; it daily
makes dumb objects sing, inanimate live, immobile move. 29 11. The
engineer, if it is proper to say so, is almost a partner of nature,
unlocking her secrets, changing what she reveals, playing with
wonders, and making such exquisite counterfeits that we take for truth
what is certainly artificial.

Since I know that you have diligently studied this art, you will be
quick to send me the afore-mentioned time-pieces with all speed, that
you may make your name known in a part of the world where
otherwise you could not have come. 12. May the foreign tribes realise,
thanks to you, that my noblemen are famous authorities. How often
will they not believe their eyes? How often will they think this truth the
delusion of a dream? And, when they have turned from their
amazement, they will not dare to think themselves the equals of us,
among whom, as they know, sages have thought up such devices.

[On Cassiodorus’ outline of Boethius’ studies and writings, see Chadwick, 102f. On late
antique, especially sixth century interest in the mathematical and mechanical arts, and
their prestige among the educated, see Mathew, 24-9, 67ff. Cassiodorus later constructed
a sun-dial and a water-clock for his monastery (fnstitutiones I.xxx.4f.; cf. II.vii.3).
Boethius’ surviving works are ostentatiously theoretical, and his technical skills have

2 ® On water-clocks, see Vitruvius, On Architecture DC.8.5-13, with plates M and N in F.
Granger’s Loeb translation; on sun-dials, ibid. DC.7 with plate L, Dilke, 70-3,

29 Daedalus: a legendary inventor, who escaped from Crete on artificial wings. The statue
of Cupid was probably suspended between opposing masses of magnetised stone in the
vault.

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therefore been doubted, but I am unconvinced.]

L46 KING THEODERIC TO GUNDOBAD, KING OF THE
BURGUNDIANS (date as 1.45)

1. We should welcome those gifts which are evidently in great
demand, since things which can gratify our desire are not to be
despised. For the whole purpose of some precious objects is to gratify
a want.

Therefore, I greet you with my usual friendship, and have decided
to send you, by X and Y, the bearers of this letter, the time-pieces with
their operators, to give pleasure to your intelligence. One is the type
which seems to epitomise human ingenuity, since, as we know, it
traverses the space of the entire heaven; in the other, the sun’s course
is known without the sun, and the length of the hours is marked off by
trickling water. 2. Possess in your native country what you once saw
in the city of Rome. It is proper that your friendship should enjoy my
gifts, since it is also joined to me by ties of kinship. 30

Under your rule, let Burgundy learn to scrutinise devices of the
highest ingenuity, and to praise the inventions of the ancients. Through
you, it lays aside its tribal way of life, and, in its regard for the
wisdom of its king, it properly covets the achievements of the sages.
Let it distinguish the parts of the day by their inventions; let it fix the
hours with precision. 3. The order of life becomes confused if this
separation is not truly known. Indeed, it is the habit of beasts to feel
the hours by their bellies’ hunger, and to be unsure of something
obviously granted for human purposes.

30 Gundobad had commanded the imperial army in 472-4; his son Sigismund had married
Theoderic’s daughter Areagni.

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O A KING THEODERIC TO THE MOST PIOUS EMPEROR
ANASTASIUS (a.510)

1. Solemn custom prompts me to give a name to the roll of honour,
to give Rome its special glory, the Senate house its earthly distinction,
so that, through the course of years, the grace of high offices may run
on, and the memory of the ages be consecrated by royal generosity.
May a felicitous year receive a good omen from its Consul Felix; may
a period that is renowned by such a name enter the gate of days; and
may the fortune of the year’s beginning bless its remainder.

2. For what could you suppose more desirable than for Rome to
gather her own sucklings back to her breasts, and to count the Gallic
Senate amongst the assembly of the venerable name. 1 The Senate
acknowledges the glory of Transalpine blood; not for the first time has
it entwined its crown with the flower of Gaul’s nobility. Along with the
other offices, it knows how to recruit its Consulars from there. The law
of time, and a pedigree rich in consular robes make Felix an hereditary
bondsman of honours. For what worthy man does not know him to be
felicitous in his own character, one who displayed his merits at the first
opportunity, by hastening to the motherland of virtues [Rome],
Prosperity followed his good judgement; promotions came when he
gained his liberty; and I was not content to leave inglorious a man who
deserved to attain the chief honour of the state. 3. He clearly merits my
generosity, since, while in the flower of his youth, he reined in that
unstable time of life by maturity of character, and, with the rare
blessing of self-restraint, when bereft of his father, he became the child
of dignity. He subdued avarice, the enemy of wisdom, he rejected the
enticements of vice, he trampled down the vanity of pride. So he
triumphed over excess, and, by his character, publicly displayed his

‘Fridh follows the MSS in reading venerando; I prefer the conjecture of Cujas and
Mommsen, venerandi . ‘The Gallic senate’ may allude to the Council of the Gauls, or
more generally to the senatorial class in Gaul.

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Consulship before its time. 2

4. Now I, who am won over by good morals, and pleased by
proven honesty, bestow the consular insignia on this candidate, so that
my generosity may stimulate desire for virtue; for something which is
lavishly rewarded will not lack its enthusiasts. And so do you, who can
be delighted in impartial goodwill by the prosperity of either
commonwealth, add your support and your vote. He who is worth the
elevation of such an office deserves to be chosen by the judgement of
us both.

[The appointment [for 511] seems entirely the work of Theoderic, with Anastasius’ assent
an optional extra. Contrast the words Procopius gives to Witigis’ envoys (Wars VI.vi.20):
4 the Goths have conceded that the dignity of the Consulship should be conferred upon the
Romans each year by the emperor of the East’.]

IL8 KING THEODERIC TO THE VENERABLE BISHOP
SEVERUS 3 (c.508)

Who is a better choice for the laws of equity than the man who is
honoured with the priesthood? In his love of justice, he can show no
favour in judgement, and loving all men equally, has no place for envy.
Therefore, I inform you that I have sent your holiness, through
Montanarius, 1500 solldi, deeming the action well suited to your
merits. In so far as you know any of the provincials to have suffered
loss from the passage of my army in this year, you are to distribute the
money to them, making an estimate of the damage; thus, no one
affected by his losses will be a stranger to my bounty. For I do not
intend a sum which should be rationally distributed to be given without
discrimination, lest what I have plainly been compelled to send to
sufferers should be bestowed without need on the uninjured.

2 In the parallel letter to Felix, Theoderic praises his frugal and efficient management of
his estates, perhaps with some irony (II.2.3f.).

3 Severus was probably bishop of a city on the route from Italy to Gaul, much used by
Gothic troops fighting the Franks.

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IL14 KING THEODERIC TO THE PATRICIAN SYMMACHUS
(a.507-12)

1. If family pieties have evidently turned to savagery, who can
now bring charges in other matters? When the tragedy of crime has
thundered mightily, trivial accusations are neglected; no one strives to
avenge min or cases if he sees the greatest misdeeds escaping. The very
nature of his role displays the ferocity of your enemy; you may often
find anger in a colleague; but humanity does not permit a rebellious son
to avoid punishment.

2. For what has happened to that natural influence, which the
bond of kinship fastens on our children? The whelps of wild beasts
follow their parents; saplings do not quarrel with the soil; a vine slip
keeps to its own origin; and shall a man, once brought forth, quarrel
with his own beginnings? What shall I say of those benefits that can
bind even those outside our families? Children are nurtured from their
infancy; for them we work; for them we seek riches; and, although
each man may think his property ample for himself, when fathers
continue to pursue it, they sin for the next generation rather than
themselves. The grief of it! Shall we not earn the love of those for
whose sake we consent to suffer death? A careful father, in the quest
for foreign goods to leave to his offspring, does not shun the seas
themselves, tossed by savage storms. 3. The very birds, whose life is
constantly spent in feeding, do not defile their nature by so alien a
stain. The stork, which is ever the herald of the returning year,
dispelling the gloom of winter, and ushering in the joy of spring, gives
us a fine example of family piety. For when their parents droop their
wings as old age withers them, and are incapable of seeking their own
food, they warm the cold limbs of their progenitors with their plumage,
and revive their exhausted bodies with eatables; and, until the aged bird
returns to its original vigour, the young ones repay, in a pious
exchange, what they received, when little, from their parents. And
therefore, by not refusing the duties of piety, they earn their lengthy
life span. 4. Partridges, too, have the practice of redeeming the loss of
an egg by taking from a second mother, and thus mending the

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misfortune of their childlessness by adoption of an alien offspring. But
soon, when the chicks begin to be strong walkers, they go out into die
fields with their fosterer; then, as if summoned by the mother’s voice,
they instead seek out the parent of their eggs, although they were
reared by others in a stolen brood. 5. What, then, is the duty of human
beings, when they see that this piety is natural even to the birds?

Therefore, you are to bring before your court Romulus, who,
polluted by the atrocity of his deed, disgraces the Roman name; and,
if it is clear that he has laid hands on his father Martin, he shall
straightway feel the vengeance of the law. For it is for this reason that
I have chosen a man of your character: because you are incapable of
sparing the savage, since it is a kind of piety to punish those shown to
have taken part in evil deeds against the law of nature.

EL 16 KING THEODERIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF
ROME (c.509)

1. It is my care, fathers of the Senate, to repay an upright life,
and to stimulate men of innate good qualities to better practices by the
fruit of the kindness I bestow. For virtues feed on exemplary rewards,
and there is no one who will not strive to scale the heights of morality
when deeds praised by a knowledgeable witness are not left unrepaid.

2. Hence it is that I have raised the illustrious Venantius,
resplendent both by his own and his father’s merits, to the rank of
Honorary Count of the Bodyguards; thus, honours conferred shall
increase the glory grafted on his parentage. For you recall, fathers of
the Senate, how the Patrician Liberius won praise even under my
hostility. He showed such total loyalty to Odoacer as later to deserve
my love, although he had done much against me as my enemy. For he
did not come over to me in the mean state of a deserter, nor did he
feign hatred against his proper lord, to win for himself the favour of
another. With integrity, he awaited the judgement of God; nor did he
permit himself to seek a king before he had lost a master. 3. So it has
come about that I gladly reward him because he has loyally aided my

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enemy. Under the patronage of opposing fortune, the measure of his
clear disobedience at the time made him the more acceptable to me.
Now, with his master almost bowed down, he was swayed by no
terrors; he bore unmoved the ruin of his prince; nor could he be
frightened by the new regime which even fierce tribesmen held in awe.
He followed the co mmo n fortunes with wisdom, so that, while
steadfastly enduring the judgement of God, he might commend himself
the better to the favour of men. 4. I have proved the man's allegiance;
in grief he passed over to my rule; a beaten man, he changed his
loyalty, but did not bring about his own defeat.

Soon, when I gave him the office of Praetorian Prefect, 4 he
administered what was entrusted to him with such integrity that any
man might wonder at the guileless loyalty of one whom he knew to
have been so cunning an enemy. He then, with untiring care - the
hardest kind of virtue - brought in the public revenues to general
approval. He increased the taxes not by adding to them, but by keeping
them unchanged: income which had harmfully been dissipated, he
beneficially collected with industry and intelligence. I realised that the
revenues were increased; you knew nothing of extra taxes. Thus, two
things were marvellously achieved: the fisc was enriched, and private
advantage felt no loss. 5 5. It is my delight to mention how, in the
assignment of one-third shares [tertiae], he united both the estates and
the hearts of Goths and Romans. 6 For, although neigbourhood usually
causes men to quarrel, for them the sharing of property seems to have
inspired harmony. For it so befell that either nation, while living in
common, arrived at a single mind. Behold, a new, and wholly
admirable achievement: division of the soil joined its masters in good
will; losses increased the friendship of the two peoples, and a share of
the land purchased a defender, so that property might be preserved

4 This was held c.493-500.

5 On tax levels, justice, efficency and actual revenue, cf. Ammianus Marcellinus XVH.3,
XXI.16,17,

6 Tertiae are probably shares of rural estates. On barbarian land settlement in Italy, see
Bamish, 1986, esp. 180f.; cf. 1.18. (Contrast Goffait, 1980, Wolfram, 295ff.)

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secure and intact. A single law and a just discipline embraces them.
For sweet affection must needs develop among those who always
preserve their fixed boundaries. The Roman commonwealth owes its
peace, then, not least to the aforementioned Liberius, he who has
transmitted to such glorious nations the zeal for love.

6. Consider, fathers of the Senate, whether I should leave the son
unrewarded, when I recall the many and mighty deeds of his father.
May Heaven favour my decision: thus, as I arouse the virtues by
bestowing benefits, so I may prove that honoured and upright men have
increased in merit.

DL20 KING THEODERIC TO THE SAIO WILIGIS (a.508-12)

All men should gladly contribute what they see may be of service
to the state, since the limbs must needs feel as the whole body does.
And therefore, by this command I order you to load with com from the
taxes all the ships 7 you can find at the city of Ravenna, and bring them
to me, so that the state supplies, relieved by this measure, need endure
no dearth and scarcity. Let Ravenna return to Liguria the supplies it
usually receives from there. 8 For the province that endures my
presence should find help from many sources. For my court draws with
it hordes of followers; and, while benefits are swiftly bestowed,
necessary supplies are demanded from the people.

11.21 KING THEODERIC TO THE DEPARTMENTAL OFFICER
[APPARITOR] JOHN (a.507-12)

1. It is a very grave matter that a hard-working man should be
defrauded of the fruit of his labour, and that one who ought to be

7 Following J.Rouge (Latomus 21, 348-90) and Fridh, I read sculcatorias for Mommsen’s
exculcatorias .

8 The court was probably at Pavia, owing to the war with Clovis.

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rewarded for his industry should unjustly suffer loss. This is especially
so in a case which concerns my bounty; there, no negligence is
permissible, lest I should seem to have sanctioned something of no
benefit.

2. Now, some time ago my bounty made over to the distinguished
gentlemen Spes and Domitius? an area in the territory of Spoleto
uselessly occupied by muddy pools, where a wide expanse of waters
had submerged the kindly arable, so that no use and benefit resulted.
The ground lay shipwrecked, ruined by stagnant marsh; tossed between
two privations, it had not gained pure water, and had lost the glory of
dry ground. 3. Since it is my desire to change all things for the better,
I made it over to those mentioned above, on condition that, if this foul
swamp should be drained by their labour and operations, the fields so
freed should profit them. But, as reported in the petition presented by
Spes* agents, the distinguished Domitius has been at fault: forgetting
my command, he has tenaciously withheld expenses, and the labour of
the workmen has been nullified, just as the soft surface of the ground
was drained and gradually hardening, and the unfamiliar sun was
warming soil long devoured and hidden by the water. 4. I will in no
way allow this to be neglected, so that grudging sloth destroys a work
well begun.

Therefore, your loyalty, with this moderate verdict, is to summon
the aforementioned Domitius either to press on the work begun as a
painstaking worker; or, if he thinks this too expensive for him, to make
over his own share to the petitioners. For it is right that, if he cannot
perform what he asked for, he should allow his partner in the gift to
increase the glory of my reign.

[Lying halfway between Rome and Ravenna, Spoleto was much frequented by senators
and courtiers. Like Decius’ work (1132), these drainage operations may have been a
show-piece for the regime.]

9 Inscriptions attest one FI.Spes as a leading citizen of Spoleto in 346, and suggest that
the Domitii were a noble family there in the 5th-6th centuries.

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IL24 KING THEODERIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF
ROME (a.507-12)

1. It is well known that the Senate has bestowed a rule of life on
the people, for we read that you established what gives glory to the
Roman name. For this purpose you were called fathers at the very
beginning: that you might order men’s lives as if they were your sons.
For your decrees have produced loyalty in the provinces, and given
laws to private persons; you have taught your subjects to obey justice
gladly in all its parts. And therefore it is unfitting that a sign of
resistance should arise where exemplary self-restraint should instead
shine out. My clemency, whose heartfelt desire it is to preserve
measure in all things, has decided to bring this matter to your notice.
Your ignorance may nourish ever more excesses, but error cannot
endure once you know of it.

2. Now, I have learnt by report from the provincial governors
sent to the magnificent Praetorian Prefect that the first period of tax
payment has been so exempted that clearly little or nothing has been
paid in by the senatorial houses. They allege that, by this difficulty, the
weak, who should have been given assistance, are ground down; for it
happens that, when the harshness of the civic tax-collectors [ exactores ]
is despised by the powerful, it turns to the weak and plays havoc
among them, and it is he who is zealous in his own payments who
instead pays another’s. Moreover, they add much graver charges, that
each, according to his whim, deigns to cast something to those who ask
his taxes — that is, all this loss is reportedly inflicted on the town
councillors — and those whom my policy had revived for the public
service, are ruined by lawless injuries. 10

10 Cassiodorus seems to distinguish the damage inflicted by the council's tax-collectors
on those below them from that which town councillors suffer themselves when, despite
their extortions, they still fail to make up the tax deficit. The payments ‘cast* are
probably in substandard coins; cf. 11.252, Traube, index, s.v. abicere. The later
emperors tried repeatedly to support the councils, ‘the sinews of the state', as Majorian
called them in 458 (Novel 7.1).

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3. And therefore do you, fathers of the Senate, who owe the state
an effort equal to my own, take order with such justice that, whatever
any senatorial house may declare, it shall pay in three instalments to the
appointed agents 11 in the provinces. 4. Or indeed, if you so wish - and
this is something you have often requested as a favour - you may pay
the entire sum to the treasury of the Vicar’s office, 12 Thus, no town
councillor shall have to labour with repeated and useless summonses,
and instead lose out by your paltry payments, with the detestable result
that a man who, in his loyalty, can barely support his own obligations,
is weighed down in his weakness by another’s burdens. 5. While
maintaining official courtesy [ civilitas ], I cannot hide this fact: that,
without the cruelty of war, men are borne down and stripped of their
property, and perish the more, the quicker they are to serve the state.
Know that I have also brought this to the attention of every provincial
in an edict [11.25], so that he who knows himself borne down by the
weight of another’s obligation may be free to burst out into public
notice. I know that I am giving a safeguard to the exhausted; from me
they will bring back a harvest of justice.

11.25 AN EDICT OF KING THEODERIC (date as 11.24)

1. Although the voice of grief is filled with protest, although
losers cannot contain themselves, and an injured spirit feeds on
lamentation, nonetheless, when my authority gives scope, freer speech
is gained. For I hate the oppression of the wretched; I am moved even
by the troubles of the uncomplaining; and what the sufferer’s pretence
has concealed quickly reaches my ears. Rightly so, since all men’s
injuries affect me, and what I experience in the losses of the poor, I see
as wounding to my love.

11 destinatis procuratorihus per provincias trina illatione persolvat: I doubt Traube’s
interpretation of the procurator (index, s.v) as a senator’s agent.

12 Like XII.8, this grants the privilege of autopragia , direct responsibility for one’s taxes;
a landlord would collect them with his rents.

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2. Now I have recently learnt by report from the provincial
governors, that certain houses of the very great are not fulfilling their
obligations in due order. Hence it is that, when there is an effort to
procure the instalment due, the larger sum is exacted from little men.
Then, by the arrogance of the major tenants [conductores], the solidi
due in tax are not handed over in proper order; instead, coins of bad
weight are tossed to the collectors. Nor have they paid over in
customary form the entire tax that they used to render. The result is
that the town councillors, for whom I wish to take thought, experience
heavy losses under coercion from the efforts of the tax enforcers; and
- if it can be right to say so - they are even deprived of their own
estates, when pressed with another’s debts by the aggressive collectors
of arrears [compulsores].

3. In order to eradicate this wrong, I have also sent instructions
to the most* reverend Senate [11.24], and now decree by edict that any
landowner or town councillor who feels himself burdened by another’s
obligations is to make haste to an audience with my serenity; he will
know how utterly the excesses of the past have disgusted me when he
sees them followed by benefits. The purpose of a just prince is,
therefore, made plain to you - although it is constantly displayed by
many evidences. Now either conceal with silence your grief and
suffering, or open in a spirit of justice a road for your complaint. The
fate of this decision will now lie in your hands; it is open to you to
choose what you perceive will profit you.

IL27 KING THEODERIC TO ALL JEWS LIVING AT GENOA
(a.507-12)

1, As it is my desire, when petitioned, to give a lawful consent,
so I do not like the laws to be cheated through my favours, especially
in that area where I believe reverence for God to be concerned. You,
then, who are destitute of His grace, should not seem insolent in your
pride.

Therefore, by this authority, I decree that you add only a roof to

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the ancient walls of your synagogue, granting permission to your
requests just so far as the imperial decrees allow. 13 2. It is unlawful
for you to add any ornament, or to stray into an enlargement of the
building. And you must realise that you will in no way escape the
penalty of the ancient ordinance if you do not refrain from illegalities.
Indeed, I give you permission to roof or strengthen the walls
themselves only if you are not affected by the thirty year limitation. 14
Why do you wish for what you ought to shun? I grant leave, indeed;
but, to my praise, I condemn the prayers of erring men. I cannot
command your faith, for no one is forced to believe against his will. 15

[Following the reconquest of Africa, Justinian confiscated Jewish synagogues in that
province {Novel 37.8). At the siege of Naples in 536, the Jewish inhabitants fought
bravely on the Gothic side.]

11.32 KING THEODERIC TO THE SENATE OF ROME (a.507-12)

1. I welcome dedication to the public service, fathers of the
Senate, since, while proving the commendable spirit of the citizens, I
find an opportunity to confer well-merited favours. For what is so like
a senator as to devote zeal to the public service, that he may profit the
country for which he was bom?

2. Now, the magnificent Patrician Decius, compelled by love for
the commonwealth, with an admirable aim, has freely requested what
my power and policy could scarcely have imposed on him. 16 He has
promised to drain the marsh of Decemnovium, 37 which ravages the

13 Cf. Theodosius II, Novel 3, 3 and 5.

14 Probably, this means ‘If no-one, for thirty years, has legally challenged the right of
your synagogueto exist on that site, and in that form’; cf. 1.18.

13 Cited in 1577 in a plea for religious toleration by the humanist J. Bodin.

16 Note that the inscription below refers to the work as imposed by Theoderic; it may
thereby have strengthened Decius' title to the land reclaimed.

17 Decemnovium was the stretch of the Via Appia which ran for 19 miles north of
Terracina through the notorious Pomptine (Pontine) marshes.

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neighbourhood like an enemy, by opening channels. It is a notorious
desolation of the age, which, through long neglect, has formed a kind
of marshy sea, and, spreading by its waters a hostile deluge over
cultivated ground, has destroyed the kindly arable equally with shaggy
woodland. Since it began to be exposed to the marshes, the soil has
been robbed of its crops, and nourishes nothing useful beneath the
water. 3. And therefore I marvel at this man: his old-fashioned
self-confidence 18 is such that private enterprise has undertaken what
the power of the state long shunned. He, then, has promised that he
will attack this daring task with such commendable completeness that
the destructive flood will perish, but the lost ground will perish no
longer. Hence, he has requested orders from my serenity in this affair,
so that he may take on, with public authority, an outstanding work, that
will benefit all travellers.

4. But I, fathers of the Senate, to whom it is natural to assist a
good intention by helpful ordinances, enjoin by this decree that you
should send two of your number to those places at Decemnovium. By
their judgement, all the space that the mud of the marshes occupied
through stagnation of the incoming water, shall be marked by fixed
boundary stones. Thus, when the promised work reaches completion,
the ground restored will profit its deliverer, and no one will dare to
claim what he has so long been unable to defend from the invading
water. 19

[An important inscription from Terracina records this work. Our lord the glorious and
famous king Theoderic, victorious and triumphant,perpetual emperor [’Augustus’], bom
for the good of the commonwealth, guardian of liberty and propagator of the Roman
name, tamer of the tribes, has restored the route and places of the Via Appia at
Decemnovium, that is from Tripontium to Terracina, to the public use and the safety of
travellers, by wonderful good fortune and the favour of God. Under all previous princes,

? priscae confidentiae virum : for the application of such terms to old-time Roman
engineers, cf. Ammianus Marceltinus XV.4.3.

s9 By a law of 388/92 {Code of Justinian XI.59.8), such land might be reclaimed within
two years by its former owner, provided he paid its restorer for his work. Decius’
reclamations were to be tax free (H.33.1).

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they had been flooded through marshes converging from either side. Caecina Mavortius
Basilius Decius, right honourable and illustrious, former Urban Prefect, former
Praetorian Prefect, former Ordinary Consul and Patrician, from the glorious house of
the Decii, toiled industriously on the task imposed, and served with good fortune the most
clement prince. To perpetuate the glory of such a lord, he led the waters into the sea
through many new channels, and restored the ground to its all too ancient dryness,
unknown to our ancestors. {Corpus Inscriptionum Latina rum, X, 6850, Inscriptions
Latinae Selectae , ed. H. Dessau, 827.) The imperial language used of Theoderic in this
inscription is unique. The model emperor Trajan (98-117), to whom men compared
Theoderic (Anonymus Valesianus 60), had rebuilt the Via Appia through the marshes, but
neither letter nor inscription shows awareness of this. The route was one much travelled
by senators, between Rome and the holiday resorts of Campania; cf. 11.21.]

H.38 KING THEODERIC TO THE PRAETORIAN PREFECT
FAUSTUS (a.508)

1. Hating the gains made for me by the misfortunes of plundered
men, I hope that my wealth will increase in the treasury of pity. A levy
that causes weeping damages my clemency, for a tax paid gladly is
ascribed to the praise of its receiver.

2. Now, the traders of the city of Sipontum claim that they have
been ruined by hostile ravaging; 20 and, since I consider that my wealth
really lies in helping the needy, your illustrious magnificence will
trouble those named with no levy by compulsory purchase [coemptio]
for a continuous period of two years. 21 3. But since there is no point
in raising the fallen if another burden of payment is imposed, your
highness must advise those who have lent money to the aforementioned
traders, that they are to demand none of the sum credited during this
two year period. So, with the help of this moratorium, they may be
able to recover the money given, while their debtors* property has
some breathing-space. For what does it profit a creditor to hurry
himself, when he is vainly struggling to get money from ruined men?

20 In 508, the emperor Anastasius sent a naval raid against the Italian coasts, presumably
in support of Clovis.

21 Cf. n. 19 to XII.22.

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I am planning for them better, if, by deferment, I enable them to regain
their loans.

11.40 KING THEODERIC TO THE PATRICIAN BOETHIUS (a.506)

1. Although the king of the Franks, tempted by the fame of my
banquets, has earnestly requested a lyre-player from me, I have
promised to fulfill his wishes for this reason only, that I know you to
be skilled in musical knowledge. To choose a trained man is a task for
you, who have succeeded in attaining the heights of that same
discipline.

2. For what is more glorious than music, which modulates the
heavenly system with its sonorous sweetness, and binds together with
its virtue the concord of nature which is scattered everywhere? For any
variation there may be in the whole does not depart from the pattern 22
of harmony. Through this we think with efficiency, we speak with
elegance, we move with grace. Whenever, by the natural law of its
discipline, it reaches our ears, it commands song. 3. The artist changes
men’s hearts as they listen; and, when this artful pleasure issues from
the secret place of nature as the queen of the senses, in all the glory of
its tones, our remaining thoughts take to flight, and it expels all else,
that it may delight itself simply in being heard. Harmful melancholy he
turns to pleasure; he weakens swelling rage; he makes bloodthirsty
cruelty kindly, arouses sleepy sloth from its torpor, restores to the
sleepless their wholesome rest, recalls lust-corrupted chastity to its
moral resolve, and heals boredom of spirit which is always the enemy
of good thoughts. Dangerous hatreds he turns to helpful goodwill, and,
in a blessed kind of healing, drives out the passions of the heart by
means of sweetest pleasures. 4. Through bodily means he softens the
bodiless soul, and leads it where he wills by hearing only, while unable
to control it by speech. In silence, he cries aloud through his hands; he
speaks without a mouth; and, by the service of insensible matter, he is

22 Mommsen and the MSS read continentia; Fridh concinentia , followed here.

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strong to govern the senses.

Among men all this is achieved by means of five toni [scales or
modes], each of which is called by the name of the region where it was
discovered. Indeed, the divine compassion distributed this favour
locally, even while it assuredly made its whole creation something to
be praised. The Dorian tonus bestows wise self-restraint and establishes
chastity; the Phrygian arouses strife, and inflames the will to anger; the
Aeolian calms the storms of the soul, and gives sleep to those who are
already at peace; the Iastian [Ionian] sharpens the wits of the dull, and,
as a worker of good, gratifies the longing for heavenly things among
those who are burdened by earthly desire. The Lydian was discovered
as a remedy for excessive cares and weariness of the spirit: it restores
it by relaxation, and refreshes it by pleasure. 5. This one a corrupt age
perverted to cabaret performances, making an immoral invention out
of a decent remedy. Now this fivefold number of toni has a threefold
division. For every tonus has an upper and a lower range, but these are
attached" 3 to a middle range. And, since they cannot exist in
separation, and are linked by alternating variations, an artificial musical
form - that is, one discovered by the work of composers on various
instruments - was conveniently found to be contained in fifteen modes.
6. To all this, human ingenuity added something greater: by learned
enquiry, it formulated a certain concordant interval called, because it
was drawn from every land, the diapason 24 , so that this wonderful
synthesis might contain all the virtues which the whole of music could
possess.

By this means, Orpheus held effective sway over the dumb beasts,
and invited the wandering herds to despise their pastures, and to feast
instead by hearing him. Through his song, the mermen fell in love with
dry land; Galatea the sea-nymph played on firm ground; the bears left

Fridh and Mommsen follow the MSS’ dicuntur , but Mommsen would prefer ducunt
or adiguntur, I suggest dicantur from dico (1).

24 Cassiodorus, Institutiones , II.v.6: the diapason (from the Greek dia pasdn) he defines
as an octave, one of the symphoniae (it is called here harmonia ), or concordant intervals.
These are 'modulations of sound from high pitch to low, or low to high’.

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their beloved woods; the lions abandoned their homes in the
reed-beds; 25 the prey rejoiced beside the predator. Opposing purposes
were gathered in one assembly; and, as the lyre gave its promise, every
beast trusted its enemies. 7. Amphion, too, the son of Dirce, is said to
have built the walls of Thebes by his song and his strings, so that,
when he raised men worn out by labour to the zeal for perfection, the
rocks themselves were believed to quit their crags and come to him.
Musaeus, also, the son of Orpheus by nature and by art, has been
praised by the mighty tongue of Vergil, who tells how he was placed
at the peak of blessedness among the shades, since he delighted the
happy souls in the Elysian fields with the notes of his seven strings.
The moral of this is that he who feasts on the savours of (his art enjoys
the highest reward. 26

8. But all this was evidently achieved by the human art of manual
music. Yet, as we know, the living voice has a natural rhythm: it
preserves an exquisite melody when it is silent at the right moment,
speaks suitably, and steps with careful elocution, on musical feet, down
the path of intonation. The sweet and forceful speeches of orators were
likewise invented to move men’s souls, so that judges would pity the
erring, and be enraged with the criminal. Whatever an eloquent man
may achieve clearly belongs to the glory of this discipline. 9. To the
poets also, as Terentianus bears witness, two original metres are
ascribed: the heroic and iambic, the one devised to arouse, and the
other to quieten men. 2 From these, various ways of delighting the
souls of an audience have been bom; and, as with the tones of an
instrument, so in the human voice, the pregnant metres have brought
forth different passions of the soul. 10. The researches of the ancients
have revealed that the Sirens sang to a miracle; and, though the waves
drove on the sailors, and the wind filled their sails, under the pleasant

25 For lions in the reed-beds of Mesopotamia, see Ammianus Marcellinus XVffl.7.5,

26 Orpheus, Amphion and Musaeus are all legendary Greek musicians; the Elysian Fields
are a paradise of dead heroes.

27 Terentianus Maurus: author of a poem On Letters t Syllables and Horatian Metres , 2nd
c. A.D.

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deception they preferred to run on the rocks, rather than forgo such
sweetness. Only the man of Ithaca [Ulysses] escaped, who was quick
to stop up the seductive hearing of his crew. Against the poisonous
sweetness, that craftiest of men thought up the device of a fortunate
deafness: what they could not overcome by their judgement, they
conquered instead by insensibility. He, though, bound himself to the
firm mast with tight knots, that he might test those famous songs with
unstopped ears, and escape, in his bonds, the peril of the
sweet-sounding voices, as the waters bore him on. 28

11. But, that I may follow the example of the wise Ithacan, and
pass on, let me speak of that psaltery which came down from heaven,
which a man to be sung throughout the world so composed and
modulated for the soul’s deliverance that, by these hymns, the wounds
of the mind might be healed, and God’s especial grace implored. Let
the world wonder at this and believe: David’s lyre drove out a devil;
its sound commanded the spirits; and, as the cithara played, the king
[Saul] whom an inward enemy had evilly enthralled returned to his
freedom. 29

12. For, although many instruments of this delight have been
discovered, nothing has been found more effective to move the soul
than the sweet resonance of the hollow cithara. Hence, we suppose that
the strings of the instrument were called chords because they easily
move the cordial spirits. So great is the concord of the diverse notes
assembled there that a string, once struck, makes its neighbour vibrate
spontaneously, although itself untouched. For such is the power of
harmony that it makes a lifeless object move spontaneously because it
so happens that its fellow is in motion. 13. Hence different notes
emerge without a tongue; hence some sweet chorus is formed from a
variety of sounds: one is high through great tension, another low
through a certain slackening of the string, a third mezzo, through a

2g Sirens: these mythical monsters lured sailors onto the rocks by their sweet singing;
Ulysses heard their song but escaped, by blocking the ears of his crew with wax, and
binding himself to the mast.

29 See 1 Samuel, xvi. 14-23.

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mellow adjustment of the instrument’s back. Human beings cannot
achieve a unison to equal the social concord that unreasoning objects
have attained. For there all notes which are tuneful or flat, harsh or
most clear, and so on, are gathered, as it were, into one glory; and, as
a diadem delights the eyes by the various light of its gems, so does the
cithara delight the ears by its diversity of sound. 14. It is the talking
loom of the Muses, with speaking wefts and singing warps, on which
the plectrum shrilly weaves 30 sweet sounds. Now this instrument
Mercury is said to have discovered, modelling it on the mottled
tortoise. As the bringer of such benefits, astronomers have believed it
should be sought among the stars, urging that music must be heavenly,
since they can detect the shape of a lyre placed among the
constellations. 15. Yet, the harmony of heaven cannot be fittingly
described by human speech, as nature has not revealed it to human
ears, but the soul knows it through reason only. For they say that we
should believe that the blessedness of heaven enjoys those pleasures
which have no end, and are diminished by no interruption. They
maintain, indeed, that things above are absorbed by that same
perception, that heavenly beings enjoy those same pleasures, and that
those who are engrossed by such contemplations are constantly enfolded
in blessed delights. 16. They would indeed have considered well if they
had ascribed the cause of heavenly blessedness not to sounds, but to the
Creator. With Him there is truly perpetual joy, an eternity that abides
for ever with no weariness; and the mere sight of God creates
unsurpassable blessedness. This sight in truth bestows everlasting life,
and heaps up pleasures; as no creature can exist without it, so without
it, unchangeable joy cannot be had.

17. But, now that I have had the pleasure of this digression - for
I am always glad of learned discussion with experts - let your wisdom
select the superior cithara-player who has, as I said, been requested of
me. He will perform a feat like that of Orpheus, when his sweet sound

30 Mommsen reads tegitur ,; Fridh texitur.

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tames the savage hearts of the barbarians. 31 And the obligation will be
repaid with a suitable reward, since you are both obeying my
command, and accomplishing what will increase your own reputation.

[The more technical part of this letter has small resemblance to Boethius* De Musica. (So
too the related Institutiones II.v.) However, its relation of music to bodily and cosmic
harmony, and its identification of the verbal arts as part of music seem comparable. De
Musica 1.34 treats practical music-making with contempt - perhaps assumed, for Boethius
was a fine poet - but values highly the discipline of musical criticism; cf. Caldwell,
144-8.]

11.41 KING THEODERIC TO LUDUIN [CLOVIS], KING OF THE
FRANKS (date as II.40) 32

1. I take pleasure in my marriage kinship with your courageous
spirit, since you have aroused the long idle Frankish race to new wars,
and, by your victorious right arm, have subdued the Alamannic
peoples, who have yielded to a stronger power. 33 But, since crimes
should always be avenged on the authors of treachery, and the
punishable fault of chieftains should not be requited on the commons,
restrain your attack on the exhausted remnants. Those who, as you see,
have taken refuge in the protection of your kindred, deserve to escape,
by the law of friendship. 34 Forgive those frightened men who are

31 Boethius remarks in De Musica 1.1, ‘For the fiercer tribes are pleased by the harsher
modes of the Goths, but gentle tribes by moderate modes; in our days, though, the last
is most unusual.*

32 Relations between Theoderie and Clovis were clearly not yet at crisis point. II.40-1
should then be dated well before the battle of Vouille in 507. The chronology of Clovis’
wars with the Alamanni is controversial; see Van de Vyver, and, recently, Wood, 262f.,
James, 84f. From archaeological evidence, the defeated Alamanni had been in close
contact with Italy; Theoderie settled them in Italy, on reclaimed marshland (Ennodius,
263.72f. [ OpuscA ]).

33 Fridh reads causis fortioribus inclinatos ; Mommsen caesis... I have here followed
Fridh’s translation (1968, 29ff.), but it seems to me uncertain.

34 Theoderie was married to Audefleda, sister of Clovis.

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hidden within my borders. 2. It is a memorable triumph so to have
terrified the warlike Alaman that you are forcing him to beg for die gift
of life. Let it suffice that that king has fallen, along with the pride of
a race; let it suffice to have subdued a countless nation, part with
death, part with slavery. For if you go to war with the remnants, it will
not be believed that you have already beaten them all.

Accept the advice of one long experienced in such affairs: those
wars of mine have turned out well which were carried through with
moderation at the end. For it is the man who knows how to exercise
restraint in all things that is habitually the victor; and the happiness of
good fortune is more apt to favour those who do not become too hard
and severe. Submit gently, then, to my guiding spirit, since, by
common example, kinship has the habit of yielding to itself. So you
will be seen to gratify my requests, and you will have no anxiety over
what you know affects me.

3. Therefore, I greet you, as is right, with honour and affection,
and, with my usual love, have sent X and Y as envoys to your
excellency. Through them, I may obtain news of your welfare, and also
the fulfillment of my request. There are, indeed, some things which I
have thought of for your benefit: these I have entrusted to the bearers
to be delivered to you by word of mouth, that thus you may be made
more prudent, and steadily obtain the full results of your longed-for
victory. Indeed, your prosperity is my glory, and I believe that the
whole realm of Italy benefits whenever I hear of your success. 4. I
have also despatched the cithara-player whom you asked for, one who,
by mouth and hands and harmonious song, may delight the glory of
your mightiness. As you judged that he should be sent urgently, I
believe that he will prove welcome to you.

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IIL1 KING THEODERIC TO ALARIC, KING OF THE
VISIGOTHS (a.507, early/mid.)

1. Although the countless numbers of your clan gives you
confidence in your strength, although you recall that the power of Attila
yielded to Visigothic might, 1 nevertheless, the hearts of a warlike
people grow soft during a long peace. Therefore, beware of suddenly
putting on the hazard men who have assuredly had no experience in
war for many years. 2. Battle terrifies those who are unused to it, and
they will have no confidence in a sudden clash, unless experience gives
it in advance. Do not let some blind resentment carry you away.
Self-restraint is fore-sighted, and a preserver of tribes; rage, though,
often precipitates a crisis; and only when justice can no longer find a
place with one’s opponent, is it then useful to appeal to arms.

3. Wait, therefore, until I send my envoys to the Frankish king
[Clovis], so that the judgement of friends may terminate your dispute.
For I wish nothing to arise between two of my marriage kinsmen 2
which may, perhaps, cause one of them to be the loser. There has been
no slaughter of your clansmen to inflame you; no occupied province is
deeply incensing you; the quarrel is still trivial, a matter of words. You
will very easily settle it if you do not enrage yourself by war. Though
you are my relative, let me set against you the notable tribes allied to
me, and justice too, which strengthens kings and quickly puts to flight
those minds which it finds are so armed against it. 4. And so, giving
first the honour of my greeting, I have seen fit to send you X and Y as
my envoys. They will convey my instructions, as requisite, and, with
your approval, will hasten on to my brother Gundobad and the other
kings, lest you should be harassed by the incitements of those who
maliciously rejoice in another’s war. May Providence prevent that
wickedness from overcoming you. I judge your enemy to be our

1 In 451, at the battle of the Catalaunian Plains; see Jordanes, Getica 180-217, probably
deriving from Cassiodorus.

2 Theoderic was married to Audefleda, sister of Clovis, and had married his daughter
Theodegotha to Alaric.

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common trouble. For he who strives against you will find in me his due
opponent.

III.2 KING THEODERIC TO GUNDOBAD, KING OF THE
BURGUNDIANS (date as III. 1)

1. It is very wrong to see a clash of wills among royalties who are
dear to us, and to look on, hiding our feelings, in the hope that some
misfortune will arise for one of them. If our kinsmen go bloodily to
war while we allow it, our malice will be to blame. From me you hold
every pledge of high affection; the two of us are united; if you do
anything wrong on your own account, you sin gravely by causing me
sorrow. 2. It is our part to restrain by reason young men of royal
power; for, if they feel that their evil ambitions genuinely displease us,
they will be unable to retain their rash purposes. Heated by the energy
of youth they may be, but they will respect their elders. Let them
realise that we are opposed to their quarrels, and are resolved that
neither should overstep the mark. For harsh words are our duty, lest
our kinsmen should push matters to extremes.

3. Therefore, I have seen fit to despatch X and Y as envoys to your
fraternity, with the aim of sending further, and in company with the
tribes allied to me, to the king of the Franks, if my son Alaric
approves. So, the dispute being carried on between them may be
terminated by friendly and reasonable mediation. For it befits such
mighty kings not to seek out regrettable quarrels among themselves,
with the result of injuring us too, by their own mischances. 4.
Therefore, let your fraternity labour, with my assistance, to restore
their concord; for no-one will believe that they have gone to war
without our wish unless it is very clear that our battle has been rather
to prevent a fight. Now I have entrusted to the bearers of this letter
some oral messages to be given you, that thus your wisdom may set all
in order; by God’s help, it usually achieves those things which it
studiously reflects on.

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[Gundobad eventually supported Clovis in the war.]

m.3 KING THEODERIC TO THE KING OF THE THORINGI;
ALSO TO THE KINGS OF THE HERULI AND WARNI 3
(date as III. 1)

1. The common consensus should take action against pride, as
something always hateful to God. For the man who deliberately and
wickedly seeks to destroy a famous race is not resolved to deal justly
with others. Contempt of truth is the worst of customs. If an arrogant
man happens to be victorious in an evil war, he thinks that everything
will give way to him.

2. And so do you, who are roused by the consciousness of virtue,
and stimulated by reflection on this detestable aggression, send your
envoys, along with mine and my brother king Gundobad’s, to Luduin
[Clovis] the king of the Franks. He must either give thought to justice,
hold back from war with the Visigoths, and appeal to international law,
or else face the attack of all those whose arbitration he has seen fit to
despise. What more can he ask for, when pure justice is offered him?
I will declare my feelings openly: he who decides to act without law is
resolved to shake the realms of all. 3. But it is better that a dangerous
design should be checked at its outset; thus what might have meant war
for each of us may be achieved without effort for us all.

For remember the goodwill of Euric in former days [466-84]: how
often and with how many gifts he aided you, how often he averted
from you wars that neighbouring tribes were threatening. Return the
favour to his son [Alaric], although you are aware that it is also for
your own benefit. For, if the enemy should inflict some defeat on so
great a kingdom, there can be no doubt that he will dare to move
against you.

4. Therefore, greeting your excellency in this letter, I have

3 The Heruli and Warm are probably the western branches of those tribes, between the
lower Rhine and Elbe.

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entrusted a verbal message for you to X and Y, the bearers of this
letter. Thus, a common agreement may bind you, who, by God’s help,
are following my resolve, and you may take this action abroad, lest you
should fight in your own territories.

ffl.4 KING THEODERIC TO LUDUIN [CLOVIS], KING OF THE
FRANKS (date as III. 1)

1. The holy laws of kinship have purposed to take root among
monarchs for this reason: that their tranquil spirit may bring the peace
which peoples long for. For this is something sacred, which it is not
right to violate by any conflict. For what hostages will ensure good
faith, if it cannot be entrusted to the affections? Let rulers be allied by
family, so that separate nations may glory in a common policy, and
tribal purposes join together, united, as it were, through special
channels of concord.

2. In view of all this, I am astonished that your spirit has been so
roused by trivial causes that you mean to engage in a most grim
conflict with my son, king Alaric, with the result that many who fear
you are gladdened by your clash. You are both kings of leading tribes,
both in the prime of life. You will shake your kingdoms severely, if
you give rivalries their head, and come to blows. Your courage should
not become an unforeseen disaster for your country, since the jealousy
of kings over light causes is a great matter, and a heavy catastrophe for
their peoples. 3. I will say what I feel frankly, and with affection: it is
a headstrong character that mobilises forthwith at the first embassy.
Claims on your relatives should be made through chosen arbitrators.
For, with such men as you decide to make mediators, generosity will
be their pleasure. What might you yourself think of me, if you knew
I had ignored your dispute? Let there be no war, in which one of you
will be defeated and come to grief. Throw down the steel, you who are
planning to shame me by fighting. 4. I forcibly prohibit you, with the

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authority of a father and a friend. 4 He who sees fit to despise such
warnings - not that I expect this - will feel the enmity of myself and my
allies.

Therefore, I have decided to send X and Y as envoys to your
excellency; and I have also sent my letters, by them, to your brother
and my son, king Alaric, that no foreigner’s ill-will may in any way
sow quarrels between you. 5 Rather, you should remain at peace, and
terminate what quarrels there are by the mediation of your friends. 5.
I have also sent you an oral message by those envoys, so that the tribes
which long flourished peacefully under your forebears may not be
ruined by a sudden shock. You should trust one whom you know to
rejoice in your advantage, for it is certain that a man who directs
another into dangerous courses can be no honest counsellor.

IIL6 KING THEODERIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF
ROME (a.510-12)

1. Welcome indeed is my task, fathers of the Senate, when I raise
new men to high honours. It is a pleasure to plant those of foreign
stock in the lap of Liberty [the Senate], so that the senatorial hall shows
the leafage of different virtues. For a multitude of such character
adorns the assembly, and a throng of those honoured gives a joyful
aspect to the state. But I find it much more gratifying when I return to
office those who are bom from the actual glory of the Senate, since, in
your case, my assessments are easy; bestowing merits with life itself,
you pass down virtues that can be assumed in advance. Ancestry itself
is already glorious; praise is bom with nobility; for you, life and
honour have the same beginning. For the fullest honour of the Senate,
which others scarcely attain in maturity, you acquire by birth.

2. Although this is my honest opinion of you in general, with the
result that senatorial gratitude unites the spirit of your order, it is the

4 Cf. Vergil, Aeneid VI.826-35.

5 Does this allude to Gundobad, or to the emperor Anastasius? Cf. III.I.4.

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blood of the Decii that especially dazzles the eyes of my serenity. For
so many successive years, it has shone out with the brightness of
consistent virtue; and, though glory is a rarity, no variation can be
detected in so long a family tree. This noble strain has produced great
men through the ages of its existence; mediocrities can never be bom
to it; all its offspring are distinguished, and - a hard achievement - they
are both choice and numerous. See how a fourfold glory springs from
a single seed, an honour to the citizens, a glory to their family, an
increase to the Senate. 6 They blaze out in their common merits, but
you can still find one to praise for his personal qualities.

3. Consider how this young man pleases us by his physical grace,
but still more by the beauty of his mind. His looks recall the glory of
his blood; his face declares the nature of his soul; and by the fair
weather of his body, he dispels clouds from the mind. At the same
time, he has adorned these natural goods with the insignia of learning,
so that, sharpened on the whetstone of the great arts, he may shine the
more in the sanctuary of the intellect. From the books of themen of old
he has leamt of the ancient Decii, a noble race, still living through their
glorious deaths. 7 4. Certainly, he was lucky in his toil at his studies:
it was his fortune to learn the poetry of the past through his ancestors,
and to educate his young breast from the first in the glory of his
forbears. It is a pleasure to recall how, during a great display, the gaze
of the entire school was turned to him: on hearing the ancestor, they
quickly looked at his heir, hoping to endorse, through the latter’s
resemblance, what they had heard the progenitor say, 5. For, as an

6 The four Decian brothers were Albinus, probably Theoderic’s first consular nominee
(490), Avienus, Consul in 503, Theodorus, Consul in 505, and Inportunus, Consul in
509. They were the sons of Caecina Decius Maximus Basilius, Odoacer’s first consular
nominee (480), and Praetorian Prefect of Italy in 483, and probably nephews of the
Decius of 1132. Albinus and Theodorus were also Praetorian Prefects under Theoderic,
Cf. Moorhead, 1984.

7 In legend, three generations of Decian generals ritually devoted themselves to death for
victory (340, 295, 279 B.C.); the late Roman Decii claimed descent from them. The
display described below presumably included a recitation of Livy, VIII.9, X.28, or some
other text on the early Decii.

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unworthy posterity rejects the praises of its forebears, so a
distinguished one confirms the eulogies of its ancestors. We believe in
ail that we read about the Decii, since a contemporary vein of virtue
has taught us the glory of the ancients, and the flame of genius is
rekindled in the workshop of a school of rhetoric.

He was educated, indeed, by these examples, but he was reared,
with still better results, by domestic discipline. 6. For, on losing the
comfort of her husband, his glorious mother took up the burden of
rule; neither the heavy care of an estate, nor the guardianship of so
many sons could dismay her. She fed and nurtured them; she increased
their estates; she adorned them with honours; and for every young man
she produced for the family, she gave a Consular to the Senate. My
judgement, which investigates morals, has, then, looked into these
achievements; it seeks out even the good of domestic virtue, that it may
bestow public honours on those praised in private.

7. And therefore, fathers of the Senate, I have conferred on the
illustrious and magnificent Inportunus the lofty rank of the Patriciate,
that, even as your assembly springs from the chance of birth, so it may
be increased by the insignia of office. Show favour to your kinsman,
join your votes; yours is the offspring I am honouring. You will
assuredly have reason to congratulate yourselves if, from love of your
kin, you make my judgement public; and a debt discharged from
natural love will be deemed as credited to my commands.

III.7 KING THEODERIC TO THE VENERABLE IANUARIUS,
BISHOP OF SALONA (a.507-12)

1. I indeed require that all men should honour justice and comply
with it, but especially those who are so elevated by the honours of
God’s service that, while they are far removed from earthly avarice,
they come very close to heavenly grace.

Now John has assailed me with the deplorable charge that your
holiness received from him sixty vessels of oil to fill the lamps [of your
church], whose price he asks to be duly paid to him. Assuredly, a vow

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is good, but only if no wrong is mingled with it. 2. For, although
justice should be maintained in all dealings, it is especially necessary
in those things which are offered to the divine inspection: we should
not suppose that, if God accepts fraudulent oblations, He is ignorant of
their origins.

And therefore, if you know this petitioner’s complaint to be true,
give thought to the justice which you proclaim from the sacred law, and
have his legal dues paid without delay. Thus, no one shall lament that
you, who should instead give aid, have caused him loss. Take heed,
then, that you, who never err in great matters, should not now appear
- may it never happen - to sin in small ones.

IH»8 KING THEODERIC TO THE DISTINGUISHED
VEN ANTIUS, GOVERNOR OF LUC ANIA-AND-BRUTTIUM
(a.507-12)

1. Justice counsels us to claim from each man what he is evidently
charged with, and to demand the public taxes without delay, lest
negligence should create a burden for the debtor. For, if indulgence
should find its way into official admonitions, contempt will inevitably
entangle every payer. And, in a way, compassion gives birth to cruelty,
if you are later forced to make exactions from those whom you have
failed to admonish. It is, then, a useful task to issue advance warnings,
since the opportunity for error is removed, and the place for crime
abolished. 8

2. Now I have learnt by the report of the illustrious Count of the
Sacred Largesses that the exaction of the bini et terni tax was assigned
to you some time ago, in accordance with ancient custom. I therefore
advise you by this pronouncement that you should fulfill the allotted
time, in accordance with the authority of the instructions to collect

1 Against Mommsen’s emundatur , Fridh, followed here, retains the MSS’ emendatur.

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[canonicaria] 9 Otherwise, any loss the public taxes may suffer, you
will be forced to make good from your own property, as you neither
held such a command in reverence, nor fulfilled your promise.

m.!3 KING THEODERIC TO THE DISTINGUISHED
SUNHIUADUS (a.507-12)

1. Your long and laborious services, and the many proofs of your
tested faith furnish me with this decision: you who have governed your
own soul shall now be placed in charge of other men’s morals, and
give good order to a province, since, as a private person, you loved
self-restraint. For it is he who has studied to conduct himself fittingly
that can rule well over others. So, moved by the appeal of the
Samnites, I have thought to help them in their troubles by the remedy
of commanding your distinction to go out and end their disputes.

2. Now use this opportunity: strive to respond to so favourable a
judgement by honourable practices, and show yourself well fitted to my
commands, since you formerly pleased me of your own accord.
Therefore, within the province of Samnium, terminate according to the
laws any case that may arise between Roman and Goths, or Goth and
Romans. 10 Those whom I single-mindedly wish to defend, I do not
permit to live by separate laws. You will therefore decide for the
common good what agrees with justice, since he who thinks on equity
alone is no respecter of persons.

9 This tax, the 'twos and threes,* may be fees and collection costs for the basic land tax,
to the value of 2 x h solidi , but more probably it is a name for the canon vestium tax from
which the army was clothed; see Zimmermann, 222f., Jones, 1964, 468; collection was
supervised by the king’s officium. For an example of a canonicaria see XII. 16.

10 Probably since the early empire, cases involving soldiers had been heard in militaiy
courts; the Goths had succeeded to the position of Roman soldiers. VII.3 directs the
counts commanding Gothic city garrisons to hear cases between Goths and Romans with
the help of a Roman adviser; c.f. VHI.28.

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m. 17 KING THEODERIC TO ALL THE PROVINCIALS OF THE
GAULS (c.510)

1. You who have been restored to it after many years should gladly
obey Roman custom, for it is gratifying to return to that state from
which your ancestors assuredly took their rise. And therefore, as men
by God’s favour recalled to ancient liberty, clothe yourselves in the
morals of the toga, cast off barbarism, throw aside savagery of mind,
for it is wrong for you, in my just times, to live by alien ways.

2. Hence, pondering your needs with my innate benevolence, I have
decided to send - fortunately, let us hope - the distinguished Gemellus,
Vicar of the Prefect, a man of proven loyalty and industry, to settle the
province. I trust that he will be incapable of doing any wrong, as he is
aware that sinners displease me deeply. 3. Therefore, you have my
commands to obey his ordinances, since I believe that his decisions will
be to your benefit.

Little by little, you must take on law-abiding habits. A virtuous
innovation should not be troublesome. For what can be better than for
men to trust in the laws alone, and to have no fear of future chances?
The public laws are the surest comforts of human life; they help the
weak, and rein in the powerful. 4. Love them, since your security
comes, and your good conscience grows from them. For the barbarians
live at their own will, where he who can get what pleases him more
often finds his own death. Now show yourselves secure in your riches:
let ancestral treasures long hidden away be brought to light. For a man
is the more noble, the more he gleams both with upright character and
with shining wealth. 5. For it is for this reason that I have sent you a
Vicar of the Prefecture: that I may be seen to have despatched a rule
of civil life along with such an office. Enjoy now what once you only
heard of. Realise that human beings are valued less for bodily strength
than for wisdom, and that those who can furnish justice to others
prosper deservedly.

[Despite these claims for the restoration of Roman law and civilian rule, the province
remained under military control. Gemellus was outranked by at least one of Theoderic’s
Gothic generals (Marabadus, probably Count of Marseilles), with whom he had to

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co-operate in legal matters (IV.12, 46). We should not suppose that Gaul had been in a
state of total anarchy under the Visigoths.]

m. 18 KING THEODERIC TO THE DISTINGUISHED GEMELLUS
(e.510)

1. Favours are deserved by those who have preferred my clemency,
so that I may prove the rightness of their judgement by their personal
gains. But, if such men should be provided for by official generosity,
how much more fitting is it for them to possess their own? For this is
the plain and common gift of justice.

2. Now the distinguished Magnus, rejecting association with the
enemy, and remembering his birth, has returned to the Roman empire,
his own country. Allegedly, it has happened that his wealth may have
been ruined by his absence. And therefore, I decree by this order that
anything belonging to him in any way, whether in land, or in town
slaves, or in country slaves, which he can prove to be now lost, he is
to recover without delay. By my authority, he is to retain all the rights
of ownership that he had, and is to suffer no challenge over property
long in his possession, since my purpose is to bestow new wealth on
him as well.

[The order conforms to the laws of postliminium , which guaranteed their rights and
property to returning captives. Magnus probably belonged to a leading Gallo-Roman
family, and may have been related to bishop Ennodius of Pavia. His rank suggests that
Theoderic had already honoured him; compare Felix, 11 . 1 , perhaps also a connection.]

ffl.20 KING THEODERIC TO THE SAIO TRIWILA AND THE
DEPARTMENTAL OFFICER [APPARITOR]
FERROCINCTUS (a.507-12)

1. Among those glorious cares of state, which, with God’s help, I
revolve in ceaseless thought, the relief of the humble is dear to my
heart, that I may raise up against the power of the proud the barrier of

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my devoted love. I, whose principle it is to tread down what is proud,
will allow no act of insolence.

2. Now I have been moved by the grievous disaster of Castorius, on
whom, up to now, the deadly malice of various men has pressed. It has
given an opportunity for a salutary decree, so that the help of my
devotion may avail more than the evil cunning of the wicked. And
therefore I decree that, if the magnificent Prefect Faustus has burdened
the property of Castorius with his titles of ownership, or has seized it
by an act of private usurpation, the occupier must quickly be forced by
you to return him that estate, along with another of equal value. So I
may take thought for one afflicted by cruel losses, and afford him the
remedy of my devotion. 3. But should an intermediary be discovered
in this audacious deed, who is found to be too poor for these
commands, bring him to me bound in chains, so that he whose estate
does not suffice for vengeance may satisfy me with his suffering. Thus
may the assault of an evil mind now cease in confusion, lest it seem to
attack not so much Castorius as my own will. 4. But if, at any
subsequent opportunity, that notorious plotter [Faustus] should try to
harm the aforementioned Castorius, he is immediately to be smitten
with a fine of fifty pounds of gold; and may the agony be worse than
torture, to view uninjured the man he had hoped to see in distress.

Behold a deed which will immediately restrain and chasten all men
of power: the Praetorian Prefect is forbidden to run wild to the injury
of the humble, and he to whom I rise from my seat in honour loses the
power to hurt the wretched. Hence, let all appreciate the love of justice
that delights me, since it is my will to diminish even the power of my
magistrates, that I may increase in the blessings of a good conscience.

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III.21 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS FAUSTUS 11

(c.512?)

1. It is the custom of humankind that change should have great
power; and, although magnificence may be our usual way of life,
everything that satiates breeds distaste. Therefore, constantly dwelling,
as you are, within the sacred walls [of Rome], you request that leave
of absence should be granted you, for your personal benefit. This is not
because so noble a residence irks you, but so that your new return may
be the sweeter.

And therefore, my love bestows on your illustrious greatness four
months’ leave of withdrawal to your province, on condition that you
hasten to return to your own house, when they have expired. 12 Thus,
the residence of Rome, the most glorious place on earth, which I mean
to be crowded with vast throngs, may not grow thinly populated. I
judge that this decision is also well suited to you, since a Roman
senator will lament it when he is delayed elsewhere. For where will
you find that pleasure in your kindred? Where can you look on public
buildings of such beauty? It is a kind of sin for those who can have
their fixed dwellings in Rome to make it long a stranger to them.

11 This letter has been linked to the fall from office of Faustus Niger (see introduction),
but it may be addressed to another great senator, Anicius Acilius Aginantius Faustus,
nicknamed Albus. Faustus Niger probably remained in office well into 512; cf. PLRE II,
s.v. Faustus 9.

12 Rome (or Constantinople) was a senator's official domicile, and special leave
(commeatus) was required for absence, at least in theory; cf. IV. 48, Code of Justinian

xn.i.is.

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IIL23 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS COUNT
COLOSSEUS 13 (a.507-12)

1. It is a pleasure to assign control to the proven, since the
selector’s judgement rejoices over them, while people’s property is in
safe hands when entrusted to the approved. For, as I choose an
acceptable man, so I take care that the acceptable should be
outstanding.

2. Set out, therefore, with good omens at your appointment, and
girt with the honour of the illustrious belt, to Pannonia Sirmiensis, the
former seat of the Goths. 14 Defend the province entrusted to you by
arms, order it by the law: thus, knowing that it once happily obeyed
my kindred, it may receive its former defenders with joy. 3. You know
the upright conduct by which you may commend yourself to me. Your
sole means of pleasing is to imitate my actions. Cherish justice; defend
innocence by virtue, so that, among the evil customs of the various
peoples, you may display the justice of the Goths. They have always
maintained a praiseworthy mean, since they have acquired the wisdom
of the Romans, and have inherited the uprightness of the tribes. Do
away with the accursed customs that have arisen: law-suits should be
conducted by words rather than by weapons; to lose a case must not
mean death; he who retains another’s property should repay the theft,
and not his life; civil accusations must not carry off more than war
destroys; men should raise their shields against the enemy, not their
kindred. 4. And, lest poverty should chance to hurl a man on his death,
you must nobly pay a price for such persons: you will receive a rich
reward of favour from me if you can establish a civil way of life there,
and a reward truly worthy of my governors, if the magistrate suffers

13 Despite his Roman-sounding name, Colosseus was apparently a Goth, probably holding
the rank of Provincial Count (cf. VIL1), and governing a tough frontier province with
full civil, as well as military powers.

14 The Ostrogoths were settled in the Pannonian provinces from 456/7 to 473.

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loss to give life to a doomed man. 15 Therefore, my customs must be
implanted in savage minds, until the violent spirit grows accustomed to
a decent way of life. 16

m*27 KING THEODERIC TO THE DISTINGUISHED JOHN,
GOVERNOR OF CAMPANIA (a.507-12)

1. It is the principle of kingly love and duty to cut away opportunity
from unjust hatreds, and to check the pride of armed power by
reverence for its commands. The offences of a superior are indeed a
trouble to the lowly, since he wins praise when he takes vengeance on
lesser men. Hence, long tossed about by many persecutions, you have
fled with reason to the remedy of my pity, lest private hatred should be
glutted on you under the pretext of public discipline, alleging that the
most exalted [Praetorian] Prefecture is a terror to you.

2. But I, who wish the offices I bestow to serve justice, not pain,
wall you in with my protection [tuitio] against illicit attacks. Thus, with
the royal majesty a barrier, the rage of frenzied souls will be shattered
on its cliffs, and insolence that is checked and harmless will instead be
its own punishment. For a man can be called a judge only so long as
he is thought to be just, since a name won by equity cannot be kept by
pride.

3. It remains, now, that you should fulfill the office of governor
which you have assumed, and devote yourself with industry and loyalty
to the public services that your predecessors are known to have
performed. The more you enjoy my protection, the more you should
hasten to be ruled by self restraint. For, if you rejoice in the knowledge
that the Praetorian Prefect has been removed from harming you, who
are demonstrably his subordinate, what do you think you will suffer if

15 In 111.24, the Romans of Pannonia are reproached for settling law-suits by
single-combat; this apparently resulted from the fees due in the governor’s court.

16 Fridh follows the MSS in reading velle vivere ; Mommsen, followed here, emends to
belle vivere.

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you do wrong? 17

IIL28 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS PATRICIAN
CASSIODORUS (c.512?)

1. I always welcome the sight of those who have won a place in my
heart by glorious deeds, since men who have been tested by me in the
practice of virtue have given a perpetual pledge of their love.

Therefore, by these commands, I summon your mightiness, tested
in my glorious service, to my court: honoured by you, it will increase
in obedience to the king, while you yourself will prosper as I behold
you. 2. For it is right that you who notably brought distinction to my
reign should be sought out. You honoured the palace by your integrity;
you bestowed deep peace on the people. This is why your achievement
was well known to everyone - because he who placed you in power
was ignorant of it. Those summoned to your tribunal, though, looked
on their judge without any fear of loss; because you were never sold
for a bribe, you were priced more highly by all. Who will not long to
see a man whom I have publicly favoured? For I, who have
endeavoured to suppress another councillor, 18 have praised you before
my palace. Direct your steps here, speed your arrival in haste. He who
is confident in the support of his prince should come with eagerness.

IXL30 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS ARGOLICUS,
PREFECT OF THE CITY OF ROME (a.510-11)

1. Care for the city of Rome keeps perpetual watch over my mind.
For, of the proper subjects for my thought, what is worthier than to
maintain the repairs of that place which clearly preserves the glory of
my state? Hence, your illustrious sublimity must know that I have

17 This Prefect is usually identified with Faustus Niger; cf. IIL20
** Perhaps Faustus Niger.

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despatched the distinguished John, for the sake of the glorious sewers
of the city of Rome, which cause such amazement to beholders that
they surpass the wonders of other cities. 19 2. There you may see
rivers enclosed, so to speak, in hollow hills, and flowing through huge
plastered tunnels; you may see men sailing the swift waters in the boats
prepared - with great care, lest they suffer a seafarer’s shipwreck in the
headlong torrent. Hence, Rome, we may grasp your outstanding
greatness. For what city can dare to rival your towers, when even your
foundations have no parallel? And therefore, I order you to give the
help of your bureau to the aforementioned John, since I wish those in
public office to fulfill my ordinances, removing the hands of those
private persons which are so daringly plunged into illegalities.

IHJ1 KING THEODERIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF
ROME (date as III.30)

1. Although it is my desire to spend unceasing care on the entire
commonwealth, although, by God’s favour, I strive to restore all things
to their original condition, the improvement of the city of Rome still
binds me to a special concern; there whatever is spent on adornment is
furnished for the joy of all.

Now my sense of duty, which cannot ignore corrupt actions, has
been informed, by reports from many men, that hateful
misappropriators have taken over a number of things to the damage of
the city of Rome, so that the place to which I wish to give the greatest
attention is suffering from their unlawful cunning. 2. Hence, I am
bringing my ordinances to your notice, since I believe that your city’s
losses cause you special displeasure. Now, it is said that the water of
the aqueducts, which should be protected with the greatest attention,
has been diverted to power water-mills and irrigate gardens, through
concern for private profit. This practice should hardly be adopted in the

19 Rome’s sewers were flushed by the surplus from the water system. Taken with III*31,
this letter suggests that John’s mission was caused chiefly by a shortage in this supply.

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countryside; its occurrence in that city is a lamentable disgrace. 30

3. And because I may not go beyond legal right in correcting this
kind of thing, lest I demolish the towers of the laws while intending to
benefit buildings, if the man responsible for this wicked action is
supported by the thirty year limitation, 21 he is to receive a proper
price and sell his error [back to the city]. Thus, the damage that he
does to public buildings shall be carried no further; otherwise, what I
now correct with generosity, I shall henceforth avenge with the greatest
severity. 4. But if anything of this kind has been attempted in a recent
case of misappropriation, it shall be unhesitatingly eliminated. For the
general utility must be preferred to the corrupt wishes of an individual;
even in just causes it can seldom be opposed.

But, as to the slaves assigned to the service of the aqueducts by the
forethought of princes, I have learnt that they have passed into private
ownership. Bronze, moreover, - no small weight of it - and soft lead,
which is very vulnerable to theft, are reported to have been removed
from the adornments of the public buildings, although their inventors
dedicated them to the service of the ages. For bronze was discovered
by Ionos the king of Thessaly; lead by Midas the ruler of Phrygia. And
how lamentable it is that I should incur a reputation for negligence
where others won fame for their forethought. Furthermore, temples and
public places which, at the request of many, I assigned for repair, have
instead been given over to demolition. 22

5. And, since the correction of evils gives me joy, I have
despatched the distinguished John, chosen by my justice, to inquire into
those matters which I noted above, lest silence should seem to grant
permission. Thus, everything shall be examined in order, and explained

20 Such abuses, like misappropriation of the slaves (below) were as old as the aqueduct
system; for legislation and maintenance in late antiquity, see C. Th. XV.2, Ward-Perkins,
42, 47f., ch.7.

21 Cf. 1.18 II.27.2.

22 In 458, Majorian legislated against similar problems (Novel 4), including the
destruction of buildings to give materials for the repair of others; see, in general,
Ward-Perkins, ch.3.

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to me by the service of a report, so that I may decide after the manner
of my justice what should be done about individual objects or their
appropriators. Now give your attention, apply your care, so that you
may be seen to carry out with readiness an inquiry that you ought to
have requested.

IIL32 KING THEODERIC TO THE DISTINGUISHED GEMELLUS
(a.510-11)

1. Assuredly, I do not forget the services of loyal men, but what
they rendered me in hard times, they recover in better fortune. Now,
to the men of Arles, who held firm to my side and endured the
hardship of a glorious siege, my humanity remits the taxes for the
fourth indiction [510-11], in such a way that, at a future time, they
shall revert to their usual obligation. 23 Thus, I shall make an evident
recompense to the well deserving, while their customary loyalty will
not be denied when occasion offers. 2. Let those who preferred to
hunger for me in pinching times eat their fill in freedom; let those
rejoice who faithfully endured sorrow. He who could barely avoid the
last extremity should not be anxious about his taxes; I look for those
from men at peace, not men under siege. For what can you demand
from the owner of a farm which you know he has not tilled? They have
already given me precious revenue from their fidelity. It is unjust that
those who have offered the glories of their honour should render up
vile money.

2J Arles was besieged by the Franks and Burgundians, probably in 507-8, until relieved
by Theoderic’s forces.

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UL36 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS COUNT
ARIGERN 24 (a. 507-9)

1. It is the principle of my loving duty not to deny a hearing to
pitiable lamentations, especially since it is my practice to refer
everything to the laws, so that the plaintiff may deserve the result,
while the defeated party cannot complain that he has been the victim of
bias.

Well now, Firminus claims he has a case against the magnificent
Patrician Venantius, 25 and his statements of it have frequently been
rejected by that person. 2. And, since power is always suspect in
law-suits - for the will to harm is supposed because the ability is
evident - I command that, with due reverence, the aforementioned
individual shall be warned by you to promise, under legal guarantee,
to send a briefed person to my court. He may be able to provide an
answer to the charges of Firminus before the judges appointed on my
initiative. Should he prove to have slandered the magnificent Venantius,
that plaintiff will answer for his insolence.

IIL39 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS CONSUL
FELIX (a.511)

1. Reason and justice persuade me to preserve the traditional custom
towards those who serve the public entertainment, especially when the
custom is the Consul’s. Obviously, he aims to be praised for his
liberality; the office should not appear to promise one thing, while the
senator intends to do another. Hence, when munificence is expected,
it is not right that a miser should be discovered, since the darkness of
tight-fistedness casts a shadow on the public fame of a Consul.

2. Therefore, your illustrious mightiness shall know that I have been

24 One of the only two Ostrogoths known to have sat in the Senate, Arigem twice
supervised law and order in Rome for several years; cf. IV22 A.

Probably the Decian Basilius Venantius, Consul 508, cousin of Inportunus.

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approached by the Milanese charioteers. In your time of office, they
have been deprived of those rewards which antique custom had granted
them, although that time should make munificence a law. Hence, if
their claims are flawed by no dishonesty, your sublimity should
conform to the ancient practice, which, by special privilege, demands
gifts as if they were debts. You must not withhold what you know has
traditionally been bestowed.

IH.41 KING THEODERIC TO THE DISTINGUISHED GEMELLUS
(c.510)

1. Everything that is ordered with equity becomes bearable, since
a burden evenly shared certainly does not weigh down the subjects. For
only a very small part affects the individual, although the whole
includes everyone,

2. Now the grain which my forethought has sent from Italy for the
needs of the army, lest an exhausted province should be damaged by
its provision, must be transported from the granaries at Marseilles to
the forts sited on the river Durance. 2 3. I command, therefore, that
the task of moving the aforementioned grain is to be borne in common;
taken on by all men’s energy, it will thus be quickly carried out.

IIL44 KING THEODERIC TO ALL THE LANDOWNERS OF
ARLES (c.510, winter)

Although the prime task may be to revive injured inhabitants, and
to display the sign of pity chiefly towards human beings, nonetheless,
my humanity has combined two things: I am taking thought for the
citizens with generous assistance, and I am hastening to restore to
splendour the ancient monuments. For so it will come about that, while
the city’s fortune is founded on its citizens, it shall also be displayed by

26 The forts probably guarded the frontier with the Burgundians.

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the beauty of its buildings.

Therefore, I have sent a certain quantity of money to repair the
walls and aged towers of Arles. I have also had victuals made ready,
which are intended to assist your supplies, and are to be sent to you
when the sailing season favours. Now lift up your hearts, and, restored
through my promise, and keeping the hope of future supplies, have
confidence by God’s favour; for my words hold as much as any
granary.

IIL46 KING THEODERIC TO ADEODATUS (a.507-12)

1. The case of a criminal defendant is material for the prince’s
glory, for there would be no place for pity if opportunities did not arise
from wrong-doing. For what could a salutary decree achieve if sound
morals were to order all things? A thirsty drought demands the gift of
soaking rain. Only when it is sick does the body’s condition need the
health-giving hands of healers. So, when we are overcome by
weakness, it is proper to apply remedies. Therefore, in harsh cases,
praiseworthy mitigation should be brought to bear, with due regard to
justice, so that I neither permit the vengeance to surpass the sin, nor
allow crime to exult, unpunished by the laws.

2. Now, in your petition you have alleged that you were oppressed
by the bitter hatred of the distinguished Venantius, governor of
Lucania-and-Bruttium. Afflicted by rotting long in prison, you were
forced to confess to the rape of the young virgin Valeriana, as it was
easier to seek the hope of a quick death than to bear the cruelties of
torture. For, in extreme suffering, the prayer of the groaning man is to
perish rather than to live, since the hateful feeling of pain excludes the
love of sweet life. You also add what justice wholly forbids, that you
were deprived of the frequently requested advocacy of legal defenders,
although your opponents, distinguished for their talents, were able to
tie you in the nooses of the law despite your innocence. 3. While this
appeal was entering the mind of my pity with effect, and was gradually
bending it towards the claims of mercy, a report arrived, sent from the

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governor of Bruttium. In rhetorical style, it crushed this private
allegation, by denying that credence should be given to a deceitful
appellant against the assurance of the public court.

4. Therefore, I soften the harshness of the penalty with my
leniency, decreeing that, from the day this decision is published, you
will suffer six months exile, in such a way that no one, after my
decision, may charge you with infamy by any construction, since it is
right that the prince should wipe away the spots that appear on a tainted
reputation. But, when this time has passed, you are to be restored to
your native district and ail your property, and you are to have all your
original legal rights; for I decree that you, whom I mean to detain in
temporary exile, are not to groan with the brand of disgrace. At the
same time, I threaten a fine of three pounds of gold against anyone who
tries to violate my present decision, either by resisting, or by otherwise
interpreting it. 5. But, since I do not wish this decree to affect the
innocent, lest a man should have no benefit from his own ignorance,
by present authority I free from fear those who may have been
unconsciously involved, at any time or place, in the same case. For he
who does not have a criminal conscience is like a man with an alibi.

[This ruling may have been devised to save Venantius’ face; also to protect Adeodatus
by removing him from the province while Venantius was still governor. If so, it
illustrates the limitations of royal power.]

ffl.51 KING THEODERIC TO THE PRAETORIAN PREFECT
FAUSTUS (a.507-12)

1. The rarer good faith and honest character are among public
performers, the more precious is any commendable feeling that may be
shown among them. For a man likes to discover something worthy of
praise where he had not thought to find it.

Now, some time ago, my judgement bestowed a reasonable salary
on Thomas the charioteer, an immigrant from the east, until I should
have tested his skill and character. But, since he has become the
champion in this contest, and has willingly left his own country, and

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chosen to support the seat of my rule, I have decided to confirm him
in the monthly allowance; otherwise, his pay from me would still be
uncertain, although I know that he preferred the realm of Italy. 2. For
he, in his many victories, has ‘flitted on the lips’ of many, riding more
on popularity than on chariots. He took up a constantly defeated faction
of the people; and those to whom he had himself caused grief, he
strove to make happy again, now overcoming the drivers by skill, now
surpassing them in the speed of his horses. From the frequency of his
triumphs, he was called a sorcerer - and among charioteers, it is seen
as a great honour to attain to such accusations. For, when victory
cannot be attributed to the quality of the horses, it is inevitably ascribed
to magical cheating.

3. Racing is a spectacle that drives out dignified manners: it invites
frivolous quarrels, it drains away honesty, and is a gushing spring of
strife. Antiquity, indeed, held it to be sacred, but a quarrelsome
posterity has made it a scandal. For the first to hold races, it is said,
was Oenomaus, in Elis, a city of Asia. 21 Later, Romulus, when
carrying off the Sabine women, gave Italy the show in a rustic guise,
as no buildings for it had yet been founded.

4. But Augustus, the lord of the world, raised a work equal to his
power, and laid out a construction [the Circus Maximus] in the
Murcian valley that is a marvel even to the Romans. A vast mass,
firmly girded in by hills [the Palatine and Aventine], encloses a space
which contains images of the universe. Hence, they placed twelve gates
for the twelve signs of the zodiac. These are opened suddenly and
together, by ropes let down from small herms, showing that everything,
as men suppose, is done with forethought, there where a carven head
is seen at work. 28 5. The colours, moreover, are designed as a
fourfold image of the seasons: the Green is dedicated to the fertility of
spring, the Blue to the clouds of winter, the Red to fiery summer, and

11 Oenomaus, legendary king of Elis in the Greek Peloponnese, held lethal chariot races
against his daughter's suitors; Asia may be a mistake for Achaea (Greece), or Apia (the
Peloponnese).

29 A herm is a four-sided pillar, topped by a head or bust.

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the White to the frosts of autumn. Thus, the entire year is indicated,
passing, as it were, through the twelve signs. This is done so that the
works of nature may be mimicked by the ordered fantasy of the public
shows. 6. The two-horse chariot was invented as an imitation of the
moon, the four-horse of the sun. The out-riders' horses, on which the
circus attendants announce the heats to be run, imitate the speed of the
morning star, the sun’s fore-runner. Thus it came about that, while they
believed they were honouring the stars, they profaned their faith by this
absurd representation. 7. Not far from the gates, a white line has been
drawn, straight as a ruler, to either parapet: when the four-horse
chariots set out, their contest begins from that point, lest, while they try
to smash each other in their excessive speed, the people should lose the
pleasure of its spectacle. 29 The whole race is run with seven goals, an
image of the week’s recurring seven days. The goals themselves, like
the zodiacal divisions, have three peaks, around which the swift
four-horse chariots wheel like the sun. 8. They 30 signify the limits of
east and west. The central cisterns [the Euripus] give an image of the
glassy sea; hence, marine dolphins there pour in the waters. Moreover,
lofty obelisks are raised to the heights of heaven; yes, and the taller is
dedicated to the sun, the lower to the moon, while the mysteries of the
ancients are marked on them by Chaldaean signs [hieroglyphs], as
though by letters. The backbone [spina] of the course represents the
fate of unhappy captives, when Roman generals, trampling the backs
of their enemies, obtained the joyful reward of their labours.

9. Now the napkin [mappa], which is seen to give the signal for the
races, came into use by this chance. When Nero 31 was prolonging his
dinner, and the people, greedy for the spectacle, was making its
customary demand for haste, he ordered that the napkin he was using
to wipe his hands should be thrown from the window, to give

29 Humphrey, 85: a break line ‘at which the chariots were allowed to leave their lanes and
head for the inside position*.

30 I have followed Meyer*s conjectural emendation of Eoae to eae.

31 Emperor, 54-68; ‘contomiate’ medallions, struck for the games in late imperial Rome,
sometimes commemorate his public displays and love of racing.

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permission for the requested contest. Hence, the practice that the
display of the napkin should be seen as a sure promise of races to
come.

10. The circus gets its name from a circuit; the races are, so to
speak, sword-circlings [circenses quasi ctrcu-enses ]: this is because, in
primitive antiquity, which had not yet transferred its shows to splendid
buildings, they were held in green meadows, among swords and
streams. Nor is it by chance that the rule of the contest is for a decision
in twentyfour heats, as the hours of day and night are assuredly
summed up in this number. Nor should it be thought a meaningless
device that the circuits of the goals are marked by the taking down? 2
of eggs, since that very act, pregnant with many superstitious beliefs,
asserts, as an egg does, that it will give birth to something. And
therefore, you may understand that the flighty and inconstant
behaviour, which men have ascribed to mother birds, is bom thence.

11. It would be a long task to describe all the other features of the
Roman circus, since they all seem to relate to separate reasons.
However, this I declare to be altogether remarkable: the fact that here,
more than at other shows, dignity is forgotten, and men’s minds are
carried away in frenzy. The Green chariot wins: a section of the people
laments; the Blue leads, and, in their place, 33 a part of the city is
struck with grief. They hurl frantic insults, and achieve nothing; they
suffer nothing, but are gravely wounded; and they engage in vain
quarrels as if the state of their endangered country were in question.

12. It is right to think that all this was dedicated to a mass superstition,
when there is so clear a departure from decent behaviour.

Compelled by pressure from the people, I cherish the institution:
such gatherings are what they pray for, while they delight in rejecting
serious thoughts. 13. For few men are controlled by reason, and few
are pleased by a right purpose. The mob, rather, is led to what was

32 I have followed Mommsen’s reading, ereptionibus ; Fridh has erectionibus .

33 I have followed Fridh in retaining potius. Mommsen conjectures ocius; Meyer
protinus; Alan Cameron (1973), supported by Accursius, prefers potior - see his 96, n.3,
for discussion.

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plainly invented for oblivion of its cares. For it supposes that whatever
serves its pleasure must also be linked to the happiness of the age.
Therefore, let us grant the expenses, and not be forever giving from
rational considerations. Sometimes it is useful to play the fool, and so
control the joys the people long for.

[Chariot races had close associations with imperial ceremony, and ancient links with solar
cult. On circus design and symbolism, see Humphrey, esp. 84-91, 264f., 2651T., 281,
288, 290; on the Circus Maximus in general, ch.3-5; on the circus of Constantinople,
Dagron, ch.ll. Dudley, 213f., translates a poem on the symbolism (Anthologia Latina ,
no.377, ed. Baehrens). Cassiodorus’ contempt for the race-goers’ enthusiasm is
conventional; his words may owe something to Juvenal, Satire XI. 197-201, and
Ammianus Marcellinus, XXVIII.4.29-31.]

ffl.52 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS
CONSULARIS 34 (a.507-12)

I. As I have learnt from the all too bitter submission of the
suppliants, a boundary dispute has arisen between the distinguished
gentlemen Leontius and Paschasius, with the result that they have
decided to vindicate the bounds of their estates not by the laws, but by
force. This amazes me, that something which must be defined by the
witness either of boundary stones, mountain ridges, river banks, or of
artificial marker ditches and other evident signs, has been so hotly
contested in law. 2. What would they do if they held land in regions of
Egypt where, when the flood rises, the vast waters of the Nile erode
the boundary marks, where mud covers everything and the surface of
the ground is made indistinguishable? Hence, they should not resort to
weapons, even if the lawsuit set in motion should fail, defeated by lack
of reparation. For this matter is carefully sorted out by geometrical
figures and the surveyor’s art, just as every word is specified by
letters.

34 On this letter and surveying in late antiquity, see Dilke, 44ff. Consulates is otherwise
unknown.

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3. As to geometry, now, it is recorded that the Chaldaeans first
discovered it, since they are the most intelligent and painstaking race
of men. Building up the general theory of this discipline, they showed
that it is useful in both astronomy, music, mechanics, architecture,
medicine, and in the art of logic, or in anything that can be defined by
general figures; so much so that, without it, nothing in these can attain
certainty. 4. Later, the Egyptians, not dissimilar in their burning spirit,
transferred geometry to the measurement of land and to restoring the
shapes of boundaries, because of the rising of the Nile, which they
experience every year in a prayed-for inundation; thus, art made clear
what was once exposed to lawsuits and confusion? 5

5. Therefore, your mightiness is likewise to recruit a highly skilled
land-surveyor [agrimensor] - his name is derived from his art. Using
visible markers, he will make known everything which clear reasoning
has separated. For, if, by sure reasoning, that wonderful discipline can
achieve the separation of unenclosed land, how much more should it
make known everything which must already be enclosed in its own
boundaries?

6. For, in the time of Augustus, the Roman world was divided into
fields, and registered by census, so that no one should be unsure of the
property which he held with the duty of paying tax. 7. Heron, a writer
on mensuration, reduced this to a written doctrine, so that the student
can learn from his reading what he must fully demonstrate to the naked
eye. 36 Those skilled in this art may perceive what public opinion feels
about them. For those disciplines that are famed throughout the world
do not enjoy such honour: you lecture 37 on arithmetic - the hall is
empty; geometry, in so far as 38 it discourses on the heavens, is

35 See Dilke, 19-22.

36 On Augustan surveys, here linked with provincial censuses, see Dilke, 37ff.; on Heron
of Alexandria, who may have written under Nero (54-68), 40, 54, 76-9.

37 Mommsen reads indicas ; Traube and Fridh, followed here, with stronger MSS support,
dicas ; see Fridh, 1968, 45f.

M Mommsen reads cum tantum; Fridh, followed here, cum tamen; on the use of tamen ,
and on celestial geometry, see Fridh, 1968, 47-50.

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expounded to students only; astronomy and music are learnt for the
sake of knowledge alone. 8. But, when a boundary case arises, it is
entrusted to a land-surveyor, to put an end to shameless quarrels. Of
necessity, he is the judge of his own art; his law-court is abandoned
fields; you might think him a man possessed, as you see him walking
the winding paths. For he seeks his evidence among rough woods and
thickets; he does not walk as all men do; his route and his reading are
one. He points out what he tells you; he proves what he has learnt; his
footsteps clarify the rights of the disputants; and, like a vast river, he
takes land from some, and gives fields to others. 39

9. Therefore, supported by my authority, choose a man of such skill
that, after his verdict, the parties may blush to continue with their
brazen litigation. Thus, the rights of owners, for whom it is essential
to cultivate their own land, may not be confused.

39 This may echo Lucan, De Bello Civili VI.276f.; Lucan (A.D. 39-65) was a favourite
poet of Boethius.

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IV. 1 KING THEODERIC TO HERMINAFRID, KING OF THE
THORINGI (a.506-12)

1. In my desire to add you to my kinship, I unite you, by God’s
favour, to the beloved pledge of my niece. Thus may you, who are
descended from a royal stock, shine forth still more widely in the
splendour of the Amal blood. I send you the glory of a court and
home, the increase of a kindred, a loyal and comforting counsellor, a
most sweet and charming wife. With you, she will lawfully play a
ruler’s part, and she will discipline your nation with a better way of
life. 2. Fortunate Thoringia will possess what Italy has reared, a
woman learned in letters, schooled in moral character, glorious not
only for her lineage, but equally for her feminine dignity. So, your
country will be famous for her character, no less than for its
victories.

3. Therefore, greeting you with proper affection, I acknowledge the
arrival of your envoys, and the receipt of the destined price - the
purchase is, in fact, priceless, but international custom requires it -
horses of silver colouring, such as befit a marriage. Their chests and
legs properly and handsomely swell out in muscle; their sides are the
right breadth; their bellies are short; their heads suggest a stag’s, and
they imitate the speed of the animal they resemble. These horses are
very well fed, and thus gentle, swift from their great size, good to look
at, pleasant to ride. For they are soft-paced; they do not tire their riders
by foolish prancing; one rests, rather than toils, when riding them; and,
being broken in to a pleasant and equable pace, they are trained to a
steady and enduring speed.

4. But you are aware that this herd, for all its nobility, is surpassed,
like the trained wild animals and the other remarkable gifts that you
have sent, since she who adorns the glory of royal power rightly
outdoes them all. I too have sent you such gifts as the royal rank
requires; but I have made over nothing to equal the union I have
formed between you and a woman of such distinction. May divine
favour attend your marriage, that, as friendship has allied us, so may
family love bind our posterity.

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[The bride is Amalaberga, daughter, by an unknown husband, of Theoderic’s sister
Amalafrida (now married to the Vandal king Tresamund), and sister of Theodahad. With
her education, compare Amalasuintha’s, XI. 1.6. In his Getica (21), Jordanes, perhaps
using Cassiodorus’ Gothic History, notes the fine horses of the Thuringi.]

IV.5 KING THEODERIC TO THE LOYAL [VIR DEVOTUS]

COUNT AMABILIS (c.510)

1. It is well known that my commands advance the good of the
loyal; no-one should receive them* as a burden. Now, in the region of
Gaul, I am aware that there is a dearth of food-stuffs, something to
which commerce makes haste in its constant alertness, so that it may
sell for a higher price what was bought for a lower. It so happens that
my forethought will both satisfy the sellers and rescue those in need.

2. And therefore, by this authority, your loyalty shall know that the
shippers [navicularii 1 ] of Campania, Lucania, and Tuscia must commit
themselves to wealthy guarantors, to set out with food-stuffs, for Gaul
only, with licence to dispose of them as may be agreed between buyer
and seller. 3. It is a great convenience to deal with the needy, since
famine gives no heed to anything, in order to make good its wants. For
he who sells when solicited seems almost to make a gift, even when he
serves his own profit. To go with merchandise to the well supplied
means a struggle; but he who can bring food-stuffs to the hungry,
prices them at his own judgement.

IV.6 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS PATRICIAN
SYMMACHUS (a. 507-12)

1. I who give thought to justice, even without solicitation, gladly
welcome the reasonable petitions of suppliants. For what is more
proper than for inviolate equity to preserve my state, even as arms

1 Hereditary members of shipping guilds organised for the service of the state.

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protect it? (And this I ponder carefully, by day and night).

Now, the distinguished Valerianus, a resident of the city of
Syracuse, who has brought his children to the city of Rome for their
education, has asked leave to return to his own home. 2. By my
command, your illustrious magnificence is to detain those children, and
cause them to remain in the before-mentioned city; they are not to
leave unless my word is uttered. For thus, they will gain advancement
in learning, while respect for my command is preserved. 3. A man
should not feel as a burden a gift that he ought to pray for. All should
enjoy Rome, that fertile mother of eloquence, that vast temple of every
virtue, that city which cannot be called an alien place. This clear fact
should be plainly appreciated: he on whom such a residence is
conferred is assuredly favoured.

[Bishop Ennodius of Pavia similarly entrusted youthful prot£g£s to leading men and
women, including Symmachus, for their education in Rome, and had problems with their
discipline; see, e,g., 225, 405, 452 ( Ep. V.9, VHI.28, Opusc.6).]

IV. 10 KING THEODERIC TO THE DISTINGUISHED JOHN,
GOVERNOR OF CAMPANIA (a. 507-12)

1. It is a vile deed to licence private hatreds among the public laws;
nor should the unthinking fury of men’s spirits be surrendered to their
own wills. Indeed, what pleases the angry is especially prejudicial. The
wrathful have no feeling for justice, for, once stirred up, they rage for
vengeance, they look for no moderation in their affairs. For this
reason, holy reverence for the laws was discovered, so that nothing
should be done by violence, nothing at one’s own will. For how does
the tranquillity of peace differ from the confusion of war, if law-suits
are ended by force?

2. Now I have learnt from a complaint of the provincials of
Campania and Samnium that many, forgetting the good order of the
times, have taken themselves to the practice of distraint. And, as
though my edict were forgotten, the wrongful license has increased

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among the people. 2 To this, they have added a much more grievous
complaint: some are forced to pay the debts of others, and the only
plausible justification seems to be some link of neighbourhood between
them and the debtor. This is a scandalously mistaken view. Siblings
conduct their law-suits separately; a son is free from his father’s
obligations, if he is not his heir; a wife is not held liable for her
husband’s debts, unless by the bonds of inheritance; and now
unconnected persons are being impudently forced to pay, although the
laws may absolve the kindred. So far, my ignorance may have allowed
this to happen; now there must be a legal remedy, one that can reach
my attention.

3. Therefore, your distinction, understanding the force of my edict,
must bring it to the public attention that he who happens to seize by the
practice of distraint property which he should claim by legal process,
is to lose his case; nor is it lawful for anyone to appropriate a pledge
at his own will, unless it happens to be obligated to him. 3 If, indeed,
he should choose to distrain on one man instead of another - merely to
mention the practice is a crime - he is to make double restitution to the
man on whom he used violence; for fines do most to check
wrongdoing, and those who have abandoned shame think only of their
losses. But he whom the disgraceful patronage of poverty absolves
from restitution is to be chastised by the penalty of cudgelling,
according to the character of the perpetrated crime. For what I do not
permit, I do not allow to go unpunished.

IV.22 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS ARGOLICUS,
PREFECT OF THE CITY OF ROME (a.510-11)

1. Unbearable is the transgression that attempts to injure the majesty
of heaven; forgetful of piety, it follows a cruel road of error. For what
place for pardon can he expect who has spumed the reverend author of

2 Cf. Edict ofTheoderic , cap. 123; distraint had to be authorised by a judge.

3 1.e. only property specifically pledged may be taken by the creditor; cf. Edict, cap. 124.

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his being? A ritual that is now profane must depart from the midst of
us; this punishable muttering by men's souls must fall silent. It is not
lawful to practise magic arts in Christian times.

2. Now, by the official report of your mightiness, I have learnt that
Basilius and Praetextatus, who have long been polluted by the infection
of the sinister art, have been indicted for your examination by the
charge of certain individuals. 4 5 In this affair, you assert that you look
to my verdict, so that what is commanded by my pious authority may
be strengthened. 3. But I, who am incapable of departing from the
laws, to whom it is natural to maintain a regular justice in all things,
decree by this authority that you shall try this case by legal
examination, together with five senators: namely the magnificent
Patricians Symmachus, Decius, Volusianus and Caelianus, and the
illustrious Maxi mi anus, And, keeping to every legal procedure, ensure
that, if the accusation brought should be proved, it is also punished by
the penalty of the laws themselves, so that hidden and secret culprits,
whom our uncertain knowledge cannot bring before the laws, may be
deterred by this kind of punishment from such sins.

I have sent instructions about this affair to the illustrious count
Arigera: he is to restrain a violent defence by anyone, and, if the
accused conceal themselves, to bring them to your court. Sitting with
you in this case, he is to allow neither the innocent to be oppressed,
nor criminals to evade the laws. 6

4 Basilius and Praetextatus were probably of noble blood: the former bears a Decian
name; the latter may well descend from the great pagan senator Vettius Agorius
Praetextatus (d.384).

5 A court of five senatorial judges (iudicium quinqevirale , originally chosen by lot),
presided over by the Urban Prefect (and here a Gothic count) was decreed for senators
on criminal charges in 376, following a notorious hunt for senatorial sorcerers ( C.Th .
IX. 1.13). It was perhaps used to try Boethius on charges of treason and sorcery. See
Matthews, 1975, 56-66, Stein, 71, n.2, 257f., Barnish, 1983, 593f. For Decius, see
11.32.

6 On Arigem, see note on III.45. The accused had escaped from custody (IV.23).
According to Pope Gregory the Great (j Dialogues , 1.4), Basilius hid in a monastery.
Detected and returned to Rome, he was burnt alive in a popular lynching.

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IV.51 KING THEODERIC TO THE PATRICIAN SYMMACHUS
(a.507-12)

1. Since you have taken such care for private building as to create
public works of a sort in your own dwelling, it is right that you should
be known as he who maintains in its wonders Rome, which you have
embellished by the beauty of your houses. You are an outstanding
founder, and a great adomer of buildings, since each springs from
wisdom - good design, and the tasteful decoration of existing works. 2.
For the praise you won by extending Rome into its suburbs is well
known: should a man enter those buildings, he does not feel that he
looks on them outside the city, save when he notices that he stands
among the pleasures of the countryside as well. Of antiquity, you are
the most careful imitator; of modem works, the noblest founder. Your
buildings proclaim your character, for the devotee of such work must
be rich in sensibility.

3. And therefore, I have decided that the fabric of the Theatre [of
Pompey], yielding to the pressure of its vast weight, should be
strengthened by your counsel. Thus, what your ancestors evidently
bestowed for the glory of their country will not seem to decay under
their nobler descendants, 7 What can old age not disintegrate, when it
has shaken so strong a work? You might think it would be easier for
the mountains to fall than to shake that solidity. For that very mass is
so entirely formed from vast blocks that, but for the added
craftsmanship, it too might be thought the work of nature. 4. I might
perhaps have neglected the building, if I had not happened to see it:
those arched vaults, with their overhanging stonework and invisible
jointing, are so beautifully shaped that you would suppose them the
caverns of a lofty mountain, rather than anything made by hands. The
ancients made the site equal to so great a population, intending those
who held the lordship of the world to enjoy a unique building of

1 Pompey the Great: a Roman general, 106-48 B.C.; his Theatre, completed in 55 B.C.,
had been extensively restored by the emperor Honorius in A.D. 395/402, Did the
Symmachi claim descent from Pompey, or had they previously repaired the Theatre?

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entertainment.

5. But because my discourse is clearly with a man of learning, it
will be a pleasure to recount why, as we read, uncultivated antiquity
originated these monuments. When farmers, on the holidays, celebrated
the rites of various deities in groves and villages, the Athenians were
the first to raise this rustic beginning into an urban spectacle. To the
place where they looked on, they gave the Greek name of theatre, since
the gathered throng, separated from the bystanders, could look on with
no hindrance. * * 8 6. But the back-drop of the theatre was called the
scaena from the deep shade of the grove where, at the start of spring,
the shepherds sang various songs. Musical performances flourished
there, and the precepts of a wise age. But it gradually came about that
the respectable arts, shunning the company of depraved men, withdrew
from that venue out of modesty.

7. Tragedy owes its name to the impressive voice of the actor:
fortified by echo-chambers, it produces such a sound that you would
hardly think it issued from a human being. Tragedy in fact stands on
goats 9 feet, for any shepherd winning favour by such a voice was
rewarded with the gift of a goat. 9 Comedy is named from villages; for
a village is called a comus , and is where the rustic actors made fun of
human doings in merry songs. To these were added the speaking hands
of dancers, their fingers that are tongues, their clamorous silence, their
silent exposition. The Muse Polymnia is said to have discovered this,
showing that humans could declare their meaning even without speech.
Now the Muses, in the eastern tongue, are so called as if Homousae
[beings of the same essence] because, like the virtues, they depend on
one another. They are depicted with light and pointed feathers on their
foreheads since their perceptions are borne up on swift thought, and
contemplate the loftiest matters.

9. Again, there is the pantomime actor, who derives his name from

1 Cf. Isidore, Etymologiae , XV.ii.35: ‘But the theatre is named from the spectacle, apo

tes theoriaSy because, in it, the people, standing above and looking on, watches the stage

plays.’

9 Cassiodorus conventionally derives tragedy from the Greek tragos and aoide , goat-song.

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manifold imitations. 10 When first he comes on stage, lured by
applause, bands of musicians, skilled in various instruments, support
him. Then the hand of meaning expounds the song to the eyes of
melody, and, by a code of gestures, as if by letters, it instructs the
spectator’s sight; summaries are read in it, and, without writing, it
performs what writing has set forth. The same body portrays Hercules
and Venus; 11 it displays a woman in a man; it creates a king and a
soldier; it renders an old man and a young: you would thus imagine
that in one man there were many, differentiated by such a variety of
impersonation. 10. The mime, too, which is now merely an object of
scorn, was devised with so much care by Philistio, that its
performances were set down in writing: a world boiling with
consuming cares might thus be cooled by its humour. 12 11. And what
of the ringing of the acetabulal 13 Why mention that sweet sound
modulated by a range of strokes? It yields such pleasure that, of all the
senses, men think their hearing is the highest gift conferred on them.

The succeeding age corrupted the inventions of the ancients by
mingling obscenities; their headlong minds drove towards bodily lusts
an art devised to give decent pleasure. 12. As with other observances,
the Romans uselessly imported these practices to their state, and
founded that building - the fruit of lofty thought, and a marvellous
greatness of soul. From it, we suppose, Pompey was really called the
Great, and not undeservedly.

And therefore, whether such a fabric should be held together by
socketed rods, or whether it should be renewed and reconstructed, I

m Such pantomimists performed solo. Through balletic dancing, changes of mask and
costume, and stylised gestures, they gave a sequence of character sketches, usually from
mythology. Musicians accompanied them, and singers supplied a narrative.

il Hercules (Heracles): a demi-god, the classical Super-Man. Venus (Aphrodite): the
goddess of love.

2 Philistio: a famous writer of mimes (now lost), bom A.D.6. According to Ennodius
(452.19 [Opusc. 6]), Symmachus had too much literary taste to be interested in the mime,
which was usually a burlesque mixture of drama and other entertainment, often satirical
or obscene.

li An instrument like the glockenspiel, but with metal cups instead of bars.

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have taken care to assign you expenses from my treasury. Thus, you
may gain reputation from so excellent a work, while, in my reign,
antiquity is fittingly renewed.

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V.l KING THEODERIC TO THE KING OF THE WARNI
(a.523-6)

1. Along with sable furs, and slave-boys who shine with the fair
colour of barbarians, your fraternity has sent me swords, so sharp that
they can cut even through armour, more costly than gold for their steel.
Polished splendour glows from them, and reflects in complete clarity
the faces of their admirers; their edges converge on the point with such
equality that you would think they were cast in the furnace, rather than
shaped by files. The centre of the* blade is hollowed into a beautiful
groove wrinkled with serpentine patterns: there such a variety of
shadows plays together that you would suppose the gleaming metal to
be a tapestry of various tints. 2. All this your grindstone has diligently
sharpened, your shining sand has carefully scoured, to make the steely
light into a kind of mirror for men. By nature’s generosity, your
country is so rich in this sand that it gives you a special reputation in
this work. For their beauty the swords might be thought the work of
Vulcan, he who fashioned implements of such grace that men believed
the work of his hands to be not mortal, but divine. 1

3. Therefore, paying you the greeting of friendship which I owe, by
X and Y our envoys, I acknowledge that I have received your weapons
with joy, weapons which have conveyed your concern for the blessings
of peace. In consideration for your expenses, I send you an exchange
for the gift, which should prove as acceptable to you as yours were
welcome to me. May Providence grant concord, that, as we carry on
this pleasant intercourse, we may unite the hearts of our peoples, and,
as we show concern for one another, we may be linked by mutual
obligations.

[On this letter, see Ellis Davidson, 39, 106-9. When he drafted it, Cassiodorus was
probably Master of the Offices (VI.6) with a special duty of receiving envoys. The
implication of luxury trade by reciprocal exchange between rulers is of interest.]

1 By the method of euhemerism (much used by Christians), the smith-god, Vulcan, is
here represented as a deified human. The sand may be fdeselguhr , found on the Luneburg
Heath; this helps to locate the Wami.

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V.4 KING THEODERIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF
ROME (a.524, Sept. 1st)

1. It is certain, fathers of the Senate, that your council flourishes
with men of wisdom, but the presence amongst you of literary
distinction is clearly also an outstanding feature. For I judge all those
whom I promote to the high rank of Quaestor to be men of the greatest
learning, as befits the interpreters of the laws and sharers of my
counsels. The office is not to be achieved by riches, nor by birth alone;
but only education joined with wisdom can claim it. For, while in the
case of other honours I confer benefits, from this I always receive
them. Not surprisingly, it has a happy portion in my cares; it enters the
doorway of my meditations; it is acquainted with the breast in which
the cares of state are pondered.

2. Consider how the sharer in such secrets should be esteemed.
Legal skill is demanded from him; in him the prayers of petitioners
meet; and, what is more precious than any treasure, the fame of my
good order [civilitas] rests in his hands. With an upright Quaestor, the
character of the innocent is safe; only the plans of scoundrels are made
anxious; and, when the wicked cannot hope for secret thefts, devotion
to sound morals is advanced. 3. The Quaestor guards his rights for
every man. In money matters he is self-restrained, but lavish injustice,
unable to deceive, and ever ready to assist. He serves the mind of the
prince, a fact which surpasses all else - the man without an equal must
speak through his mouth. He who, under my authority, can render this
office free from corruption, and a home for virtue, must surely deserve
to be your colleague. For you know the stock from which he so
proudly comes.

4. Hence you remember Decoratus, toiling as a barrister, and the
integrity with which he allied himself to every worthy man. He was a
faithful advocate in your cases. Insisting on essentials, he brought the
spirit of a judge to the lawyers’ bench. His triumphs were frequent and
deserved, since he examined with intelligence the material to be
brought forward. For those who first correct themselves, acting as their
own judge, will never suffer shame. Inferior in rank, he made himself

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a patron to former Consuls; and, although he was not your equal in
honours, it is told that a Patrician was his client in a famous case. 5.
It is all too rare a thing, fathers of the Senate, to speak firmly, and not
to stammer when you have much to say. Decoratus most certainly had
this ability, and you have proved it before my judgement seat. For, in
his day, what man struggling to pass through the reefs of law-suits,
could afford to ignore him as a pilot for his case? He who did not seek
his help soon had small use for the law.

I am not now bewailing his untimely end: from this man’s fertile
stem a sibling has sprouted. For, when the brother who formerly
overshadowed him was removed by nature, he spread the leafage of his
own fame through the wide air. 6. He who grew up as the leader by
birth ripened soon and duly, and yielded a harvest from his seed; but
that noble stock has saved in the successor the fruit which it lost in his
predecessor. This family is like that precious branch which, in Vergil’s
poem, is always springing; for when this *is tom away, another golden
bough replaces it, and the shoot bears leaves of the same metal’
[Aeneid VI, 143f.]. Assuredly, this man too has nurtured eloquence by
advocacy. Yielding to his brother a reputation in Rome, he preferred
to take part in the affairs of Spoleto: a hard task, the more so as it was
severed from your wisdom. For it was a very easy achievement to
assert the cause of justice among men of high character, but very
difficult when provincials were behaving with erratic freedom. 7. It
seems that he urged the restraints of law, where even the very judges
are often carried away by wicked avarice; the more they seem to
themselves great men among little, the less they brook opposition to
their will. In such conditions, it is difficult to champion the laws, and
the force of much persuasion is needed to recall a venal judge to the
right path.

Adopt my assessment, then, fathers of the Senate, and be glad to
take Honoratus to your bosom, on his promotion to the high office of
Quaestor. For he who has deservedly been found equal to such an
honour is worthy of your love.

[Boethius despised Decoratus, and refused to hold office with him; probably, Honoratus
was later discharged from the Quaestorship in disgrace (VIII. 13.3, C.Phil. Ill, prose iv)!

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The epitaph of a Decora tus from Spoleto celebrates his noble birth, justice, hospitality,
and charitable generosity.]

V.29 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS NEUDIS
(a.523-6)

1. The petition Anduit poured out has indeed moved me; but the
lost glory of his eyesight renders the man still more pitiable, since a
calamity that we see must affect us more than one that we hear of. For
he who lives in perpetual night has hastened to gain my assistance with
the help of borrowed eyesight, that he might at least taste the sweet
clemency of one whom he could not see. For he cries out that the
condition of slavery, unknown to his family, has been imposed on him
by Gudila and Oppa, although he long followed my army in freedom.

2. I am amazed that such a man should be dragged into servitude, one
who should have been discarded by a genuine master. It is a strange
kind of malpractice to pursue a man you might shudder at, and to call
a slave one whom, with God in mind, you ought to serve. Now he adds
that false charges of this kind were removed from him by the enquiry
of Count Pitzias, a man of high repute. 2 But now, bowed down by the
weight of his infirmity, he cannot defend his freedom with his right
arm, which is the proven help and patron of the brave.

3. But I, whose special task it is to preserve an impartial justice
between equals and unequals, decree by this command that, if he has
proved himself free in the court of the afore-mentioned late Pitzias, you
are immediately to make his slanderers withdraw. Nor may those who
should have condemned their own intentions, when they were first
defeated in law, dare to harass him any further with compulsions
foreign to his status.

[Migrant barbarian tribes tended to attract recruits from the Roman lower classes; this
may explain the challenge to Anduit’s free status, a status partly dependent on his service

2 Pitzias commanded a Gothic army against the Gepids and Byzantines in the Balkans in
504-5; presumably, Neudis is likewise a Gothic general.

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as a Gothic warrior; cf. Wolfram, 300ff.]

V.40 KING THEODERIC TO CYPRIAN, COUNT OF THE
SACRED LARGESSES (a.524, Sept. 1st)

1. I rejoice that I often bestow benefits beyond the petitioners’
desires, that sometimes - a most difficult feat - I surpass the prayers of
human ambition; but the deeds I more gladly embrace are those where
I glory in acting with good cause. Long, indeed, must he be weighed,
to whom the scales are entrusted; 3 and he who deserves the prince’s
love must be of such character as the law itself decrees. Precious stones
are prized when set in the gleam of gold, and take on the grace of
beauty, since they are defiled by no ignoble contact. 2. So, good
deserts, allied to high honours, are assisted by mutual glory, and the
appearance of a single object gains in beauty from the loveliness that
is joined with it.

Now in your case, I have not trusted to purchased praise, or
gossiping fame - you have often satisfied my scrutiny. For you stated
the confused wranglings of appellants in most clear and analytical
reports; those who could not express their own grievances won their
suits when commended by your pleading; and, lest any wrongful
partiality should be suspected, you reported the requests of petitioners
in their own presence. 4 3. The requests of disputants met in your
mouth, and you satisfied either party, winning impartial praise - the
hardest kind of favour, and an achievement which has put even orators
in the shade. For their task is to declare the wishes of one party after
long thought; you always had to state either side of a case suddenly
brought to you. There is also the most honourable burden of the royal
presence, under which you served so well that what men can hardly

3 This probably refers to the responsibility of the Count of the Sacred Largesses for the
coinage.

4 This refers to Cyprian’s duties as Referendary (VIII.21.4, Anonymus Valesianus 85);
V.4I makes his presentation of cases seem less formal!

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obtain from their judges by elaborate rhetoric, you procured from the
king by simple statements. 4. No wonder my serenity’s verdict was
furnished for the public good, since it endured no delay in hearing the
case. For a suit stated by you was soon understood. And why should
the end of the case be delayed when you were concluding your report
with brevity and clarity? You, I trust, have learnt to judge by serving
my justice: thus, in the most effective kind of training, you have been
taught by action, rather than by reading. 5. Schooled, therefore, in
such practice, you took on the duty of an embassy to the east
[Constantinople], and were despatched to men truly of the highest
expertise. In their company, though, you were troubled by no
nervousness, since, after my presence, nothing could amaze you. Since
you are trained in three languages, Greece found nothing new to show
you; nor did she surpass you in the cunning in which she excels. 5

6. To your merits is added a loyalty more precious than all praise,
which God loves and mortals revere. For, among the gusty storms of
the world, how will human frailty control itself, if a steadfast mind
does not attend our actions? This preserves friendship among partners;
it serves rulers with simple integrity; to the majesty of heaven it pays
the reverence of pious trust; and, should you look more widely for the
blessing that belongs to such a virtue, all that lives well is unchangeable
in loyalty.

7. Take up then, with God’s favour, the honour of the Sacred
Largesses, for the third indiction [524-5]. Conduct yourself as befits
your birth. So far, you have deserved my gift of high honours; now act
so that I may likewise confer on you still higher favours.

5 The three languages are Latin, Greek, and Gothic; V111.21.6f. tells us that Cyprian’s
children were brought up in the royal palace to speak Gothic and practise barbarian
weapon-skills. Some argue that Cassiodorus’ Greek was poor; and, although he used
Gothic tales in his History , it is doubtful if he knew Gothic. Cyprian’s embassy cannot
be dated; it may be connected with the charge of treason which he brought against
Albinus, and subsequently Boethius.

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V.41 KING THEODERIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF
ROME (date as V.40)

1. Although princely generosity has often brought your candidates
to birth, and my kindness is as fertile as nature for you, you now
assuredly have a man whom it befits me to choose and you to receive.
As the promotion I gave him was fortunate, so his union with your
assembly by the law of honours will be glorious. In this, though, the
Senate is the luckier: even a raw recruit may serve me, but it receives
only a man already found worthy of honour. 2. Rightly, then, is your
order judged to be outstanding, composed, as it always is, of tried
men. For its portals are not opened to the vulgar: only such men are
allowed to enter as are likewise seen to leave it.

Receive, then, a colleague whom my palace has long tried and
tested. He has served the royal utterances with such confidence that
many times he expounded my commands as I watched and praised. 3.
You certainly know what I am speaking of. For which of you was
excluded from Cyprian’s service? For the man who sought his help
soon received my favours. He often obtained during my horse rides
what used to be transacted in the solemn councils [consistoria] of
former days. For, when I wished to relieve a mind exhausted with
cares of state, I would turn to horse exercise, that the body’s strength
and energy might be refreshed by the very change of activity. Then,
this agreeable reporter would present many cases to me, and his
statement was welcome to the judge’s wearied mind. Thus, while this
kindly artist in doing favours was presenting his cases, a mind inflamed
with greed of beneficence was refreshed. 4. The candidate, then, held
to his allegiance, and so served my spirit that no resentment of mine
gave him trouble. I was often enraged with unjust cases, but the
reporter’s tongue could give no offence; sometimes I condemned the
business, while pleased by its advocate; and, strong in the favour he
possessed, he many times withstood the onset of my anger.

5. He is glorious, moreover, for no upstart family. For, as you
remember, his father was Opilio, a man picked out for palatine service
even in a degraded reign [Odoacer’s]. He could have grown much

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greater had not his loyalty lain fallow in the barren season of a
parsimonious giver of rewards. For what could an impoverished
benefactor confer? But, if he did not enrich him, he distinguished him,
since, when the state is poor, to earn even the lesser gifts means a
wealth of high praise. 6. This man has surpassed his forebears by the
good fortune of the age he lives in; and the fact that his elevation was
higher must be credited to my reign. Indeed, the difference between the
rulers measures the promotion of their subjects. 6

Therefore, fathers of the Senate, I have exalted to die height of the
Sacred Largesses Cyprian, shining out with his own merits and the
splendour of his family. Thus, your number may be increased, while
the devotion of my servants is stimulated. Consider, reverend fathers,
my feeling for your order, when I commend with many intercessions
those whom I have decided to add to your number.

V.42 KING THEODERIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS CONSUL
MAXIMUS 7 (a.523)

1. If those who wrestle with oiled and supple limbs call forth the
consular munificence, if organ players are rewarded in return for their
performance, if the song we delight in wins its fee, what gift should be
spent on the huntsman who strives by his death to please the spectators?
His blood gives them joy; trapped by an unhappy destiny, he hastens
to please a people who hope that he will not escape. A hateful
performance, a wretched struggle, to fight with wild beasts which he
knows that he will find the stronger. His only confidence lies in his
tricks, his one hope in deception. 2. If he fails to escape the beasts,

6 Apparently, Cyprian’s father Opilio never reached the rank here given to his son; he
therefore cannot be identified (as is usual) with a Count of the Sacred Largesses under
Odoacer, who fathered two more holders of that office under Theoderic and Athalaric,
one called Opilio (VM. 16-17). The latter Opilio probably shared in the denunciation of
Boethius.

1 On Maximus, see note to X.ll.

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sometimes he may not find a tomb: while a man is still living, his body
perishes, and, before he becomes a corpse, he is savagely devoured.
Once caught, he is a tit-bit for his enemy, and, alas, he gluts the animal
he longs to kill.

Such a show, ennobled by its building, but most base in its
performance, was invented in honour of the goddess Scythian Diana,
who rejoiced in the spilling of blood. 3. O the error, the wretched
deceit, to desire to worship her who was placated by human death! The
prayers of countrymen, made in woods and groves, and dedicated to
hunting, first, and by a lying fantasy, formed this three-fold goddess:
they asserted that she was the Moon in heaven, the Mistress [Diana] in
the woods, Proserpine among the shades. But perhaps it was only as
the potentate of Hell 8 that they thought of her without a lie, when,
deceived by such falsehood, they and their errors passed living into
deep darkness. 4. This cruel game, this bloody pleasure, this - so to
speak - human bestiality was first introduced into their civic cult by the
Athenians. Divine justice allowed it, so that the invention of a false
religion’s vanity might be degraded by a public show. 5. The building
[the Colosseum] was conceived by the power of imperial Titus,
spending a river of gold, to display the chief of cities. 9 And since a
viewing place is called in Greek a theatre, which is a hemisphere, when
two are, as it were, joined into one, it must rightly be termed an
amphitheatre. Its arena is shaped like an egg: thus there is a fit space
for runners, and the spectators may see the more easily, since its vast
circle has gathered them all in.

8 Cassiodorus here echoes Vergil, Aeneid VI.247, less conspicuously than later (11). 1-4
also owe much to the Christian poet Prudentius’s/4gaws* Symmachus , 1.351-401, written
c.395.

9 The text is very uncertain: a lacuna is possible, but I have adopted Mommsen’s
suggestion of patuisset for potuisset. Titus was emperor, 79-81, and completed the
Colosseum; inscriptions from its reserved seats record many late fifth century senators.

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6. They go, then, to sights which humanity should shun. 10 The
first hunter, trusting to a brittle pole, runs on the mouths of the beasts,
and seems, in the eagerness of his charge, to desire the death he hopes
to avoid. They rush together with equal speed, predator and prey; he
can win safety only by encountering the one he hopes to escape. Then
the man’s bent limbs are tossed into the air like flimsy cloths by a lofty
spring of his body; a kind of embodied bow is suspended above the
beast; and, as it delays its descent, the wild beast’s charge passes
beneath it. 7. In the following way, an animal which is duped may
seem less savage: one man trusts in angled screens, fitted in a rotating
four-part apparatus. He escapes by not retreating; he retreats by
keeping close; he pursues his pursuer, bringing himself close up with
his knees, to escape the mouths of the bears. * 11 Draped on his stomach
over a slender spar, a second lures on the deadly beast, and can find
no way of surviving without peril. 8. Another shuts himself up against
the fiercest animal in a portable wall of canes, like the hedgehog,
which suddenly sheltering in its own back, hides by gathering itself
together; and, though it runs nowhere, its body is nowhere to be seen.
For as the one is rolled into a ball and defended by its natural spines
when an enemy comes, so the other, enclosed in wattle-work stitched
together, is made the stronger by frail canes. 9. Others, from an
arrangement, so to speak, of three little gates, dare to arouse the wrath
prepared for them. On the open arena, they hide behind latticed doors,
now showing their faces, now their backs, so that it is a wonder they
can escape, as you watch them dodging among the teeth and claws of
the lions. 10. One man is delivered to the beasts on a rolling wheel;
another is lifted up on it, so that he is snatched from danger. So this
device, formed on the model of the faithless world, feeds some with

16 The following feats and contraptions are mostly depicted on ivory consular diptychs
of the early 5th to early 6th centuries; see Volbach, photographs 8-11, 17, 21, 59. These
carvings and Cassiodorus’ text do much to explain each other; his lively vignette of the
pole-vaulter may, indeed, have been influenced by them.

11 A four-leaved screen of bars revolved around its central pole. The man, in the angle
between two leaves, rotated the screen with arms and knees, following the beast round
as it tried to get at him.

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hope, tortures others with fear, but smiles on all in turn, that it may
deceive them. 11. To wander in speech among so many perils and
chances is a long journey. But I should fittingly add what the Mantuan
said of the shades below: ‘who could describe all the types of crime,
or run through all the names of torments?’ [Vergil, Aeneid VI.625f.]
But to you, whose duty it is to show such sights to the people, I
give this command: open your hand, pour out the rewards, that you
may give the wretches an answer to their prayers. If not, it is an act of
extreme extortion to withhold the ritual gifts, while commanding hateful
deaths. 12. And so, whatever, by ancient generosity, has become a
long-standing custom, you are to bestow on the petitioner without
delay. For there is the guilt of manslaughter in being tight-fisted to
those whom your games have lured into death. Alas for the grievous
error of the world! If there were any perception of the right, as much
wealth ought to be given for the lives of mortal men as is now poured
out on human deaths.

[Thcoderic’s apparent disapproval of these hunting shows (venationes) was typical of the
later emperors, and generally of educated men in the ancient world. (Cf. 111*51, on
racing.) In 49S, Anastasius banned them, at least partly on humanitarian grounds, but
consular diptychs make it clear that the prohibition did not last. However, the displays
died out during the sixth century in both east and west. Cf. Alan Cameron, 1973,228ff.,
242; Ward-Perkins, 111-16.]

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VL3 FORMULA OF APPOINTMENT TO THE PRAETORIAN
PREFECTURE

1. If the origin of any post of honour deserves praise, if a good
beginning can give glory to what comes after, the Praetorian Prefecture
may take pride in a founder who was clearly both of highest wisdom
before the world, and most acceptable before God. For when Pharaoh
king of Egypt was warned by unprecedented dreams of the peril of
future famine, and human counsel could not explain such a vision, the
blessed Joseph was discovered, who could both truthfully predict the
future, and providently rescue an endangered people. 1 2. He first
consecrated the insignia of this dignity; he mounted the official carriage
as an object of reverence; he was raised to this peak of glory that his
wisdom might bestow on the populace what the power of their ruler
could not provide. For even now the Prefect is hailed as Father of the
Realm on the model of that patriarch; even today the herald's voice is
sounding Joseph’s name, advising the magistrate to resemble him - it
is right that he to whom such power has been entrusted should be
constantly and delicately admonished.

3. For this dignity and my own [the monarch’s] position have
certain rights in common. For it summons men living at a distance to
its court without legal limitation; it imposes large fines on wrong-doers;
it distributes public moneys at will; it bestows travel warrants with like
power; it confiscates unclaimed property; it punishes the misdeeds of
provincial governors; it pronounces judgement by word of mouth. What
is not entrusted to the Prefect, when his very speech is a verdict? He
can almost establish laws, since the awe he inspires can settle cases
without appeal. 4. On his entry to the palace, he is adored, as I am, by
large numbers; and so high an office permits a practice that would
mean a treason charge for others. Hence, no office equals his power.
In every case, he may judge as a substitute for the ruler. No servant of
the state is legally privileged against the authority of his court, save
officials of the commander-in-chief. (I suppose that the ancients

1 See Genesis, xli.

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conceded something to those who waged war for the commonwealth.)
He may also flog the town-councillors, whom the laws call 4 a lesser
Senate*.

5. Among his staff, he holds special rights, and issues commands
to men of such standing that even provincial governors dare not defy
them in anything. His staff is evidently esteemed, effective, well
instructed, of strong and resolute character; they so carry out their
orders that commands will suffer no delays. To those who have
completed their service, the Prefect grants the rank of
Tribune-and-Secretary, and makes his officers the equals of those who
mingle with the leading courtiers, and are subject to my gaze.

6. I confirm his decisions with pleasure; reverence for him so
constrains me too that I readily carry out what I know that he has
decreed. Deservedly so, since he supports the palace with his supplies,
procures rations for our servants, furnishes victuals to the magistrates
as well, and, by his ordinances, satisfies the gluttony of tribal envoys.
And, although other offices have demarcated duties, his handles almost
everything that is dealt with under my just and moderate rule.

7. To conclude, I place on your shoulders from this indiction, as is
fitting, this fairest weight of every kind of care, an action that should
prove beneficial to me and useful to the state. May you bear the burden
by your virtuous character, and strive to act with all loyalty. The more
this office is fettered by many anxieties, the more it triumphs, winning
the highest praise. And therefore, may such a light of glory rest on
your actions that it both shines in my palace, and gleams in the remote
provinces. May your prudence equal your power; may the four virtues
wait on your conscience. 2 Know that your tribunal is built so high that,
when seated there, you will think no mean and despicable thoughts.
Take heed to what you should say, since so many will receive it. 9.
The public archives should record what no reader will blush at. A
worthy magistrate has no part in crime; unless he is constantly engaged
in noble works, he is blamed even for his idleness. For, if we recall
that aforementioned and most holy founder, to discharge with fitness

2 Cf. Cassiodorus, De Anima vii, lines 1-15.

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the office of Praetorian Prefect is a kind of priesthood.

VI.5 FORMULA OF APPOINTMENT TO THE QUAESTORSHIP

1. If honours gain in distinction the more they enjoy my gaze, if the
ruler’s frequent presence shows his affection, so no magistrate can be
more glorious than he who is admitted to a share in my counsels. For
to others I entrust the procurement of the public revenues, to others the
hearing of law-suits, to others the rights of my estates. The
Quaestorship I value as the words of my tongue, and take it
whole-heartedly to myself. 2. Of necessity, this office is linked
intimately to my thoughts, that it may speak in its own words what it
knows as my sentiments; it discards its own will and judgement, and
so absorbs the purpose of my mind that you would think its discourse
really came from me. How hard it is for the subject to assume the
speech of the ruler, to be able to express what may be supposed my
own, and, advanced to public honour, to create a noble lie. 3. Think
of the honour and responsibility you have in equal measure. If I am in
any doubt, I ask the Quaestor, who is a treasury of public reputation,
a store-room of the laws, ever ready for the unexpected; and, as Tully
[Cicero], the master of eloquence puts it, nothing ‘seems more
remarkable than the ability, by speech, to hold men’s minds, to attract
their inclinations, to drive them whither, or to lead them whence he
wills’ [De Oratore 1.30]. For, if it is the proper part of the orator to
speak with gravity and style that he may move the minds of the judges,
how much more eloquent must he be who is known to admonish the
people with their prince’s mouth that they should love the right, hate
the wrong, praise good men without ceasing, and zealously denounce
the evil. So, punishment may be given a holiday where the power of
eloquence prevails. He must imitate the ancients with intelligence; he
must correct the morals of others, and preserve his own with due
integrity.

4. Finally, the Quaestor must be such a man as it befits to bear the
image of a prince. For if, as is often the case, I should chance to hear

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a case from documents, how great will be the authority of that tongue
which can prime the royal wits under the public eye? Legal skill and
cautious speech must accompany him, so that no one shall criticise
what the prince may happen to decide. Moreover, he will need a
resolute spirit, so that no bribes and no threats may carry him from the
path of justice. 5. For, in the preservation of equity, I, who should still
be obeyed, suffer myself to be contradicted. 3 But take heed to bring
forward such legal learning that you may expound all things fitly on
request. Other offices, indeed, may seek the help of legal assessors, but
yours gives its counsels to the prince.

And therefore, prompted by the fame of your wisdom and
eloquence, for this indiction, I allot you, by God’s favour, the
Quaestorship, the glory of letters, the temple of social order [civilitas],
the begetter of every honour, the home of self-restraint, and seat of all
virtues; so act that you strive to be equal to the duties just described.
6. For to you, the provinces transmit their petitions; from you, the
Senate seeks the aid of the laws; from you experts request the justice
they have learnt; and you must satisfy all those who may demand legal
help from me. But, while doing all this, you must be carried away by
no pride, gnawed by no grudge, never pleased by the misfortunes of
others, since what is hateful to the prince cannot be right for the
Quaestor. Wield a prince’s power with a subject’s rank. Ennobled as
my mouth-piece, so speak that you may still think yourself due to
render account before my judgement seat, where a man will either be
condemned and receive his reward, or be praised and gain the glory of
his upright ways.

3 et nobis patimur contradict , cui etiam oportet oboediri: Fridh supposes a lacuna after
etiam, and suggests prava iubenti , For a Quaestor contradicting his threatening emperor,
see Ammianus Marcellinus, XXVIII. 1.25.

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VL6 FORMULA OF APPOINTMENT TO THE RANK OF
MASTER [OF THE OFFICES]

1. Whoever receives the name of Master takes up an honour to be
held in reverence; for this title is always derived from its bearer’s
expertise, and we know from the name what we should believe of his
character. Naturally, the discipline of the palace belongs to him: he
lulls the stormy character of insolent guardsmen with the calming
breeze of his moderation. 4 He harmonises so many ranks without the
smallest confusion, and sustains in his own person the common burden,
which most men see as divided. Thus, he fulfills the authority of his
title, and honours the government by his actions.

2. Through him, senators on arrival are presented to my sight: he
prompts the nervous, he controls the talkative; in fact, he usually
inserts his Own remarks, so that I hear everything in proper form. His
promise of a royal audience can be trusted; he wins glory in bestowing
my conversation; he is, as it were, the morning star of the court. For,
just as it promises the coming of day, so he confers the countenance of
my serenity on those who long for it. Moreover, with complete security
I place in the bosom of his attention a vast weight of legal cases, so
that I may be relieved by his loyal efforts, and devote the greater
energy to public affairs.

3. But he also guards with diligent severity the serviceable swiftness
of the post-horses, which are kept always at the gallop: thus, with the
help of speed, he advances my labours which he aids by his counsel.

4. Through him, foreign tribesmen are given hospitality to the glory of
my state; and those who were sorrowing when he received them depart
with reluctance. Through him, indeed, I am forewarned of the arrival
of envoys, even when they are in haste; through him travel warrants
are sent out in my name, and to this man so vital a matter is chiefly

4 The theory (see introduction) that the guards ( domestici) had been pensioned off is based
on (a) Procopius, Anecdota xxvi.27f.; (b) the appearance in the Variae of the comitiva
domesticorum as a sinecure (cf. II.16.2). But Procopius refers only to guards stationed
at Rome; 1.10 seems to imply that the domestici served for their pay.

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entrusted.

5. Antiquity, moreover, weighing up his labours, has conferred on
him a very great power, that no provincial governor should take up
authority unless he has decreed it. It has subordinated the judgements
of others to his opinion, so that the appointment bestowed by another
is referred to him. He does not have, though, the trouble of tax
collection, but he enjoys the blessing of the power he has obtained in
wide fields - in order, I suppose, that a rank created to help the prince
should pluck its flowers from different official prerogatives. 6. At his
own judgement, he also appoints the assessors of food prices in the
royal city [Ravenna], and creates a magistrate for business of such
necessity. For he brings joy to the people and credit to my rule when
he sets over the public supplies men of such calibre that the grumbling
populace is well fed, and raises no riots.

7. His staff, furthermore, is dignified with such a privilege of rank
that he who has completed the duties of his service is honoured with
the title of princeps , and those who gave you their humble obedience
astonishingly take the chief place among the personnel of the Urban and
Praetorian Prefectures. Thus, a sort of injustice is done with legal
sanction in the favour shown to this great office, since the man who has
served elsewhere is placed over the duties of others. 8. The Master’s
chief assistant [adiutor] is also admitted to my presence, so that, by a
kind of substituted kindness, I may distinguish the supporter of the man
who gives me such faithful help.

So, for the nth indiction, with fitting gravity, I entrust to your
control this office, distinguished by so many prerogatives, and so rich
in insignia; thus you may be seen to act the Master in all you come to
do. For if, which God forbid, such wisdom as yours should sin, there
is no help left for human nature.

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VH.42 FORMULA FOR AN EDICT ADDRESSED TO THE
QUAESTOR, DIRECTING THE MAN WHO HAS BEEN
GRANTED A SAIO TO PROVIDE A GUARANTEE

1.1 have learnt that the saiones , whom I have decided to allot in all
good will, have often been involved in serious disputes. My generosity

- the grief of it! - has been corrupted; and, when the malice of
petitioners has transferred them to uses other than those for which my
remedies assigned them, disaster has instead arisen from this medicine.
Hence, I must check pestilent intentions with a health-giving remedy,
lest, while my care and devotion draw me to acts of justice and
beneficence, I should submit to the most inequitable intrigues.

2. And therefore, by a proclaimed edict I lay down this: anyone
who wishes, from compelling necessity, and against violent attacks, to
obtain a saio must pledge himself to my bureau [officium] with the
penal bond of a guarantee. If the saio he has obtained should transgress
my instructions by his punishable instigation, he himself is to pay so
many pounds of gold as penalty, and must promise to repay any loss
his opponent may suffer, whether as fee [to the saio] or travel
expenses. 3. For, when I wish to suppress lawless spirits, I should not
be a burden to the innocent. But the saio who, of his own will has
transgressed the measure of my instructions, must know that he will be
deprived of his donative, and - something more serious than any loss

- may incur peril from my disfavour. Nor will anything further be
entrusted to the man who has emerged as the violator of my command,
whose executor he should have been.

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101

Vffl.l KING ATHALARIC TO THE EMPEROR JUSTIN
(a.526, after Aug.30th)

1. I would be justly blamed, most benevolent of princes, if I were
to ask in a lukewarm way for your peace, which my forebears, as is
known, demanded with so burning a desire. In what respect would I be
a worthy heir, if I were found to be unequal to my predecessors in so
glorious a concern? The purple-clad rank of my ancestors has done less
to distinguish me, the royal throne to exalt me, than the far-reaching
power 1 of your favour to ennoble me. For, if I know that I possess it
completely, then I am confident that all is well in my realm.

2. But, as it is the glory of your piety to cherish those whose
fathers you loved - for no-one is believed to have given harmless and
sincere affection to the old unless he demonstrably approves their
posterity - let hatreds be shut up with men entombed. May anger perish
with the violent; affection should not die with those held dear, but you
should treat with the greater goodwill one who cannot be blamed for
his kingdom’s quarrels. Consider what the heir of worthy men deserves
from you. 3. You exalted my grandfather [Theoderic] in your city to
the Consul’s ivory chair; in Italy you distinguished my father [Eutharic]
with the Consul’s robe of office. And, through desire for concord, he
was adopted as your son by arms, although he was almost your equal
in age. 2

The name of son, which you bestowed on my elders, you will grant
more fittingly to a lad. Your love should now take up a father’s role;
for, by the laws of nature, the offspring of your son cannot be held an
alien to you. 4, And therefore, I seek peace not as a stranger, but as
close kindred, since you gave me a grandson’s favour when you
bestowed on my father the joy of adoption. I have assumed a royal
inheritance: let me find a place in your thoughts also. To me, it matters

1 Mommsen conjectures patens for potens; Fridh retains the MSS reading.

2 Eutharic was probably designated, not just acknowledged, as Consul by Justin; contrast
II.l. Adoption by arms implied the inferior status of the adoptee; cf. JV.2, Procopius,
Wars I.xi.22. Theodoric was made Consul by the emperor Zeno in 484.

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more than ray lordship to have the goodwill of so great a ruler. May,
then, the first days of my reign deserve the help of an aged prince; let
my boyhood procure the guardianship [tuitio] of your favour; and I
who am sustained by such a protection will not be wholly bereft of kin.
5. Let my realm be tied to you by the bonds of gratitude. You will
reign more effectively in a region where you sway all things by love.

Therefore, I have seen fit to send X and Y as envoys to your
serenity, so that you may accord me your friendship on those
agreements, those terms which your glorious predecessors are known
to have had with the lord my grandfather, of divine memory. Perhaps
I deserve even more good faith from you because my age cannot make
me suspect, and it is known that my family is not alien. By my
aforementioned envoys, I have sent some oral messages for your most
serene ears; and may you, after the custom of your clemency, bring
them to effect.

VHL12 KING ATHALARIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS ARATOR
(a.526, after Aug. 30th)

1. I judge necessary business to be perfect and completed if, even
as I have provided for the military section of the state by selecting the
magnificent Patrician [Tuluin], so I take thought to associate with him
a man of the highest skill in letters. For it befits those to whom exalted
power is entrusted to have learned counsellors, so that measures
provided to benefit the state may be set forth unhindered by a lack of
worthy men. Other posts may organise themselves with a commonplace
provision; but he who cares for the general security must have such an
associate as is unrivalled in his studies.

2. For you are not still regarded as untried, although you have come
to honours as a young man. The field of advocacy trained you; the
summit of my judgement selected you. For so great was the devotion
to letters found in you that I could not allow your genius to grow old
there. You are entering on state service, although you might be acting
as an attorney; and, though eloquence may once have lured you to

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103

declaim for the defence, equity was then persuading you to pronounce
as a judge. Eloquence armed with good character is of proven utility.
For, as it is fatal when the learned persuade men to crime, so it is a
healing benefit when fluent speech is incapable of passing the bounds
of truth.

3. But, that I may instead proclaim your merits by laudable
examples, it is a pleasure to recount that solemn embassy, which you
transacted not in commonplace words, but by a torrential river of
eloquence. For, when sent from the region of Dalmatia to the lord my
grandfather [Theoderic], you so expounded the needs of the provincials
and the good of the state that you spoke at length without wearying a
conscientious and highly cautious man. Indeed, the abundance of your
words gave sweet pleasure as it flowed, and, when you were drawing
to an end, you were asked to go on speaking. By moving and delighting
the audience, you best fulfilled the endeavour of a true orator, although
you had now abandoned the work of a barrister. 4. Indeed, you were
also helped by the eloquence and character of your father, whose
rhetorical skill was able to instruct you, although you did not lack the
books of the ancients. * * 3 For he was, as I know, a man outstandingly
learned in letters.

And - to discourse to a scholar on the recherche - these letters, as
common opinion has it, were first assembled by Mercury, the inventor
of many arts, from the flight of the birds of the river Strymon. 5. For,
even today, the cranes, which gather in flocks, are taught by nature to
represent the shapes of the alphabet. 4 Reducing these to a seemly
order, with an appropriate mixture of vowels and consonants, he
invented a road for the senses by which meaning 5 can make for the
heights, and reach at its swiftest the inner shrine of understanding. Of

J Arator is usually identified with Ennodius’ friend, the poet Magnus Arator; I am

uncertain, since the latter was orphaned at an early age, brought up by bishop Laurentius

of Milan, and trained in ihetoric by Ennodius and Deuterius.

4 Strymon: a river in Thrace, famous in ancient literature for its cranes.

5 Mens here, I think, untranslatably denotes both the mind of a writer, and the
significance of his words.

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this, the Greek author Helenus^ has said much and well, describing the
nature and form of letters in a most exact account, so that the wealth
of noble literature can be understood in its very origin.

6. But, to return to my theme, you may therefore be supposed to
have improved your talent by paternal example, and without nourishing
your eloquence in the forum of Rome. O happy master! O fortunate
pupil, who learnt by love what terror has forced from other educated
men! 6 7 7. Indeed, you discovered Roman eloquence in regions not its
own; and where the Gallic tongue once sounded, the reading of Tully
[Cicero] made you an orator. Where are those who claim that Latin
literature can be learnt at Rome, and nowhere else? Had earlier ages
produced this advance, Caecilius would have escaped the weight of
shame. Indeed, that verdict has lost its force: Liguria, too, has sent out
its Tullys. 8

8. You must realise my opinion of your merits, when you see
yourself linked to the counsels of one who handles the secrets of my
empire. Hence it is that you hold the illustrious rank of Count of the
Bodyguards, and that I adorn you with that honour. 9 Thus, you may
rightly hope for greater rewards from my judgement, since I expect to
find in you still better qualities. You see that great affairs are entrusted
to you: whatever you do affects the public. For he who has the
opportunity to sin against all men wins great glory if he is incapable of
transgression.

6 A grammarian attested only in Cassiodorus; his existence has been doubted.

7 Teaching methods were commonly brutal; cf. Augustine, Confessions 1.14, 23.

9 Caecilius Statius, ft, 179 8.C., was a comic poet from Milan, then in Celtic speaking
Cisalpine Gaul; Cicero (Brutus 258) condemned his Latin style.

9 Is the honour that of Count of the Bodyguards or merely consiliarius to Tuluin, the
Patrieian-in-Waiting commanding the Gothic army? Arator may already hold the former.
Against Martindale {PLRE II, s.v.) and Sundwall (92f.), he is not being promoted to
Count of the Private Estates.

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105

Vin.15 KING ATHALARIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF
ROME (a.526, after Aug.30th)

1. Your response to the decision of the glorious lord my grandfather
over the episcopal election gives, I declare, great satisfaction to my
mind. For it was right to obey the judgement of a good prince: taking
thought with prudent deliberation, although about an alien faith, he
evidently chose such a pontiff [Pope Felix IV] as should displease no
worthy man. You may thus appreciate that he specially desired that
religion in all churches should flourish with good priests. You have,
therefore, accepted a man who has been worthily formed by divine
grace, and praised by royal scrutiny.

2. No one should still be engaged in the old rivalry. He whose
hopes the prince has overcome should not feel the shame of defeat.
Indeed, if he loves the new pontiff without guile, he makes him his
own. For why grieve, when the rival’s partisan finds in this man the
same qualities he hoped for? These contests are civil ones, wars
without weapons, quarrels without hatred; this affair is carried on by
acclamations, not lamentations. For although one person has been
debarred, still the faithful have lost nothing, seeing that the longed-for
bishopric is occupied.

3. Therefore, with the return of your envoy, the illustrious
Publianus, I have thought it proper to send letters of greeting to your
assembly. For it gives me great joy to converse with the chief men of
my realm. And I am very sure that this too will give you much
pleasure: your knowledge that obedience to Theoderic’s command has
gratified me likewise.

[Felix’s rival cannot be identified; according to the Liber Pontificalis (Davis, 50f., 105),
there was an interregnum of 58 days before his peaceful ordination by command of
Theoderic on July 12th, 526. As Theoderic died on August 30th, the controversy lasted
well over three months.]

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Vm.28 KING ATHALARIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS
CUNIGASTUS 10 (a.526-7)

1. The lamentable grievance of Constantius and Venerius has moved
my serenity: they complain that they have been deprived by Tanca * 11
of their legal property, a piece of land called Fabricula, together with
its livestock. They add that, lest they should try an action to reclaim
their own, he is imposing on them, who are free, the status of meanest
slavery.

2. And therefore, your mightiness, in obedience to this decree, is
to command the afore-mentioned person to attend your court. There the
whole truth of the case between the parties is to be examined, and you
are to dispense a justice that accords with law, and corresponds to your
character. For, as it is a serious thing for a master to lose his rights,
so it is opposed to my times to press free necks with the yoke of
slavery. 3. If they request it, the invaded property is initially to be
restored to them by the right of interim possession, but in such a way
that a party to the action shall not withdraw from the case. This violent
anticipation of the laws must cease, so that the case may be heard and
judged by a magistrate, and the defendant either possess his proven
slaves with the associated goods, or leave them free men, unharmed in
person and estate. For it is enough that I am forgoing the penalty due
from him who has dared this injury.

VIH.31 KING ATHALARIC TO THE DISTINGUISHED
SEVERUS 12 (a.526-7)

1. Since, as I believe, you learned all that belongs to the
organisation of the state when playing a praiseworthy part in the
counsels of the Praetorian Prefecture, you have fully realised, with

10 On Cunigastus, cf. Boethius, C.Phil. I, prose iv; for his judicial position, cf, III.13.

11 His name suggests that he was a Goth.

12 Severus was probably governor of Lucania-and-Bruttium.

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your literary education, that a city which is a populous community
presents a beautiful appearance. For thus the glory of freedom shines
out in it, while my ordinances find their necessary execution.

It is the way of animals to seek out the woods and fields, but of
men to love their hearths and homelands above all things. 2. The very
birds, those of a gentle and harmless character, fly in flocks: the
tuneful thrushes love a throng of their own kind; so too, the chattering
starlings always gather in armies; the murmuring wood-pigeons delight
in their own regiments; and nothing that lives an honest life disdains
the pleasures of unity. 3. By contrast, the fierce hawks and hunting
eagles, more keen sighted than all other birds, wish to fly alone, since,
intent on their hunting, they have no interest in harmless assemblies.
For, not wishing to come on their prey in another’s company, they take
care to act in solitude. So with mortal men, the purpose that shuns
human sight is usually detestable, and nothing good can be truly
believed about him whose life goes unwitnessed.

4. Let the land-owners and town-councillors {possessors and
curiales ] of Bruttium return to their cities: those who ceaselessly till the
fields are the peasants [coloni]. Those to whom I have granted honours,
whom I have approved and entrusted with public affairs, should accept
that they are cut off from the life of a yokel. Especially they should do
so in that region where good things come in abundance and without
toil. 5. There the com grows rich and full; the olive too rejoices in its
fruitfulness; the valleys smile with fertile pastures, the hillsides with
vineyards. It abounds in flocks of many kinds of cattle, but especially
it glories in its herds of horses: deservedly so, since so spring-like are
those woods in the heat of summer that the animals are unharassed by
the stings of flies, and are fed to satiety on grass that is always green.
You may see streams of the purest water flowing among the mountain
heights; they run downwards through the high hills as if springing from
the tallest peak. Furthermore, on either side, the province has much
trade and sea-borne traffic, so that it both abounds in a wealth of its
own produce, and, through its neighbouring coasts, is supplied with a
store of foreign goods. There the yokels feast like townsmen; men of
modest rank also enjoy the superfluity of the great, so that even the

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smallest fortune is not without provisions.

6. Men declare their great delight even in the countryside of this
province; do they then have no desire to inhabit its cities? What is the
use of men lying hidden, when they have been so refined by education?
Boys seek out the assemblies of humane schooling, and, just when they
might be worthy of the forum, promptly bury themselves in their
country dwellings. They make progress only to unlearn; they become
learned to forget; and, while they love the countryside, they do not
know how to love themselves. A man of learning should ask where he
can live and be famous. No wise man despises an assembly of people
in which he knows that he will be praised. Moreover, virtues lack good
report, if their merits are unknown among men. 7. For how can men
long to abandon the assembly of their fellow citizens, when they see
that certain kinds of bird also mingle with human society? For the
swallow trustingly hangs its nest in the homes of mortal men, and feeds
its chicks without fear among the throngs of inmates. Hence, it is a vile
act for a nobleman to bring up his sons in the wilderness, when he sees
how the birds entrust their offspring to a human concourse.

Let the cities return, then, to their original glory; let no-one prefer
the delights of the countryside to the public buildings of the ancients.
8. How can you shun in time of peace a place for which wars should
be fought to prevent its destruction? Who does not welcome a gathering
of noblemen? Who does not enjoy conversing with his peers, visiting
the forum, looking on at honest crafts, advancing his own cases by the
laws, or sometimes playing at draughts, going to the baths with his
fellows, exchanging splendid dinner parties? He who wishes to lead his
life in the constant company of his slaves will assuredly lack all these
things.

9. But, in case a mind otherwise instructed should slip back again
into the same habit, both land-owners and town-councillors are to
provide guarantors, and, under a penalty externally assessed, to
promise that they will spend the greater part of the year in the cities
that they have chosen as their official residence. So it is decreed, that
they may neither lack the splendours of the city, nor be denied the
delights of the countryside.

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KING ATHALARIC TO THE DISTINGUISHED SEVERUS

(a.527, before Sept. 1st)

1. As it is the wish of a wise man to know the unknown, so it is
folly to conceal proven facts, especially in a time when abuses can be
very rapidly corrected. Now, by frequent proofs, I have learnt of
events at the Lucanian assembly to which ancient superstition gave the
name of Leucothea, 13 from the clarity and great whiteness of the water
in that place. There the merchants’ wealth has often been damaged by
the lawless seizures and hostile plundering of the country people, so
that those who had come in all devotion to honour the anniversary of
St Cyprian [Sept. 14th], and to adorn with their merchandise the form
of civilised life [civilitas], have departed poor, shamed, and
empty-handed.

2. I have judged that this can be corrected by a straight-forward and
easy remedy. At the afore-mentioned time, your distinction, together
with the owners and tenants of the various great estates, must obtain
peace for those who meet there, by sureties given in advance; thus you
need not detect and punish guilty men for their shocking crimes. But,
if any of the country people, or a man from any place, should give
cause for a wicked quarrel, he must be arrested at the very outset, and
immediately punished by cudgelling. Thus, he who was previously
attempting to stir up secret crime will correct his evil purpose in a
public display.

3. Now that same gathering is both a festival of great fame, and
highly profitable to the surrounding provinces. For all the notable
exports of industrious Campania, or wealthy Bruttium, or Calabria rich
in cattle, or prosperous Apulia, with the products of Lucania itself, are
displayed to the glory of that most admirable commerce. Hence, you
would be right to suppose that such a mass of goods had been
assembled from many regions. For there you may see wide meadows
gleaming with the loveliest of market-stalls, temporary homes quickly
woven from leafy and beautiful branches, and a coming and going of

13 The White Goddess : a sea goddess.

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people who sing and rejoice. 4. Though you will see no public
buildings there, you may still behold the glory of a famous city. Boys
and girls are on display,marked out by their differences in sex and age,
brought on the market not as captives, but by freedom: their parents
are right to sell them, since they benefit by slavery itself. Indeed, there
is no doubt that slaves can be improved by transference from field
work to service in the town. 14 Why should I mention the clothes,
interwoven with a countless variety of threads? Why the sleek and
well-fed animals of various kinds? Everything is for sale there at such
a price that even the most reluctant purchaser may be tempted. So, if
praiseworthy discipline sets all in order, no-one will leave that fair in
discontent.

5. Now the site itself spreads over delightful meadows, a kind of
suburb of the ancient city of Consilinum, which has taken the name of
Marcellianum from the founder of the sacred springs. An abundance of
sweet, translucent water bursts out here, where the hollow of an apse
shaped like a natural cave pours forth a fluid of such clarity that you
would suppose to be empty a pool which you know is brimful. It is
transparent to the very bottom, so that it seems more air than liquid to
your gaze. The pure water rivals the light of day, for whatever is
thrown into it is visible with undiminished clarity. 6. A school of fishes
plays happily in it. They come boldly to the hands of those who feed
them, as if they know they are not to be caught: for whoever dares to
do such a deed is swiftly seen to feel the vengeance of the Deity. 15 It
is a long task to recount the wonders of that spring. I will move on to
that extraordinary gift and holy miracle. 7. For when, on the occasion

14 Parents might sell their children for a limited period (perhaps 25 years) without
ultimate prejudice to their freedom; cf. C.Th. IIL3, Valentinian IH, Novel 33, H.
Chadwick, Journal of Theological Studies, n.s. 34 (1983), 432,n.8. Despite Cassiodorus’
rosy picture of southern Italy (given small support by current archaeology), this usually
resulted from great hardship; cf. Edict of Theoderic 94: ‘Parents who, compelled by
necessity, sell their sons for the sake of food, do not prejudice their free status; for no
price can be put on a free man.'

15 These sacred fish probably dated back to the pagan shrine; to Christians they would
symbolise both Christ, and those baptised into his Church.

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of the sacred night, the priest begins to pour forth the prayer of
baptism, and the springs of speech flow from his holy mouth, a wave
immediately leaps on high, and sends out the waters not by their usual
channels, but in a lofty mass. The mindless element rises up of its own
will, and miraculously prepares itself in a kind of solemn devotion, that
the consecration of the divine majesty may be made manifest. For,
although the spring itself covers five steps, and submerges only them
in its untroubled state, it is seen to swell to the other two, which it is
never known to cover save at that time. It is a great and wondrous
miracle that the flowing waters should so stand or swell at human
speech that you would think they took pains to listen.

8. May this heavenly spring be venerated in the speech of all men.
May Lucania have its own Jordan. The one gave us the model of
baptism; the other guards the sacred mystery with annual devotion.
Hence both profit, and the reverence due to the place, should confer
holy peace on the people; for all will judge him the wickedest of men
who dares to violate the joys of such a time. Let my decree be read and
displayed to the people, so that they will not think themselves licensed
to crime in the belief that it will go unpunished.

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IX, 15 KING ATHALARIC TO POPE JOHN [II] (a.533) 1

1. If it was the task of the princes of old to seek out laws by which
the peoples they ruled might enjoy the pleasures of tranquillity, it is
much more glorious to make such decrees as will agree with die rules
of the Church. Thus, damnable gains should be alien to my age. That
alone can truly be called profit which we know that the divine
judgement does not punish. 2. Now, a law-officer [defensor] of the
Roman Church has recently come to me with the lamentable allegation
that, when a bishop was being sought for the Apostolic See, certain
men exploited the needs of the times by nefarious scheming, and so
burdened the wealth of the poor 2 with extorted promises that - merely
to mention it is impious - even the sacred vessels were openly put on
sale to the public. 3 The savagery of committing this act measures the
glory of eradicating it by recourse to piety,

3. And therefore, your holiness must know that I have decreed in
this regulation - which I also wish to extend to all patriarchs 4 and
metropolitan churches - that, from the time of the holy Pope Boniface
[II], when the fathers of the Senate, mindful of their nobility, passed

1 John II was ordained on Jan.2nd, 533; Cassiodorus became Praetorian Prefect on
Sept. 1st, 533; Salventius, addressee of the linked IX.16, succeeded his dead brother as
Urban Prefect some time after April 22nd. Krautschick (90), assumes that Salventius did
not continue in office after Sept. 1st, the start of the new indiction, since the office
normally changed hands annually. Therefore, Cassiodorus must have been engaged in
official drafting before becoming Prefect. Possible, but his assumption seems to me
uncertain.

2 1.e. the Church estates from which the poor were supported.

3 The long hiatus of two and a half months between the death of Boniface II and election
of John II, suggests the intensity of intrigue. In 531, Boniface had tried to designate his
successor, and been defeated.

4 Patriarch usually means the bishop of an apostolically founded see; Cassiodorus seems
to apply it to any metropolitan bishop.

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a measure for the prohibition of such fees, 5 if any man, whether in his
own person or through another, is shown to have promised anything to
procure a bishopric, that accursed contract is to have no force. 4.
Moreover, if anyone is convicted of involvement in this crime, I leave
him no plea; also if he thinks to reclaim a debt, or to retain what he
has received, he will necessarily be held guilty of sacrilege, and will
restore what he has received by compulsion of the competent judge.
For, even as just laws open up legal actions for the good, so they close
them for men of evil character, 5. Furthermore, whatever that measure
of the Senate decreed, I order to be upheld in every way against those
who have in any way involved themselves or any intermediaries in
criminal contracts.

6. And, because all things must be moderated by reason, and
excessive dealing cannot be called just, I decree that, whenever a
contest about the consecration of the apostolic pontiff happens to arise,
and the people's dispute is brought to my palace, those who make me
the recommendation will receive no more than 3000 solidi with the
assemblage of documents. 6 However, out of respect for the nature of
the business, I exclude from their number all the rich, since it is rather
the poor who should be looked after by an ecclesiastical gift. 7. But I
decree that the other patriarchs shall spend no more than 2000 solidi on
the terms and persons mentioned above, when their ordination is
considered at my court. They must know, however, that, in their own
cities, they are not to distribute more than 500 solidi to the poorest of

5 ut a tempore.... Bonifatii, cum....patres conscripti senatus consulta....condiderunt - I
have translated cum as temporal, but it may be causal. The consultum mentioned has been
identified with a contestatio senatus of 530 (in the pontificate of Felix IV) prohibiting
intrigue within a Pope’s life-time for his successor; I disagree - the consultum probably
dated under Boniface (530-2), and concerned financial malpractices in elections; cf.
Hamack, 38f.

6 Against Traube (index, s.v. coliectio), I do not think this a reference to fees ( sportulae )
paid by petitioners to palatine officials for the production of documents. Rather, this is
a reward paid by the candidate to the successful delegation of his supporters.

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the people. 7 Other recipients will be restrained by the penalty both of
this edict and of the Senate’s recent decree; but the severity of canon
law will pursue the givers too.

8. But, as for those of you who with patriarchal honour supervise
the remaining churches, since my decree has freed you from illicit
promises, it remains that you should follow good examples, and,
without any cost to the churches, provide bishops worthy of [God’s]
majesty. For it is very wrong that bribery should find a place with you
which I have barred to laymen through respect for the divine. 9.
Therefore, if any ruler of the Apostolic Church, or any patriarch
should see fit to promote a bishop through some corrupt favour
[suffragium], whether he does so in person, or through his relatives, or
any of those serving him, he is to return what he has received, and is
to suffer in every way what canon law prescribes. But if anyone fears
to reveal what he gave or promised in that man’s lifetime, the Church
shall reclaim it from the heirs (or their representatives) of him by
whose favour the bishop is found to have been ordained, and those
survivors shall likewise be branded with the mark of infamy.
Moreover, the other [ecclesiastical] orders, I decree, will be subject to
the same sanction. 10. But if, through the devising of a cunning plot,
anyone should be so bound and hindered by oaths that, for his soul’s
salvation, he cannot prove, and does not dare to denounce the
committed crime, 1 license any persons of standing in any of the
individual cities to bring this charge before the competent judges.

As to anything that can be recovered through that evidence - so that
I may encourage the prosecutors to produce evidence - he who has been
willing to prove such a deed shall receive a third of the property
informed on; the remainder, which has evidently been plundered, 8 will
go to those churches, and will be applied either to their buildings, or
similarly to their services. For it is right to turn to a good use what

7 The wording is vague, but it seems that two classes of poor might be involved in
elections: real paupers, and those respectable enough to share in delegations to the court.
The latter got more money - did they belong to the plebeian ordo of citizens?

1 Fridh, followed here, reads proficiant quae, Mommsen prqficiat quod.

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YULIS KING ATHALARIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF
ROME (a.526, after Aug.30th)

[Felix’s rival cannot be identified; according to the Ubcr Pontificalia (Davis, 50f., 105),
there was an interregnum of 58 days before his peaceful ordination by command of
Theoderic on July 12th, 526. As Theoderic died on August 30th, the controversy lasted
well over three months.]

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worldly and corrupt ambition may be removed from the honour of Holy
Church. I wish you to bring this without any delay to the notice of the
Senate and Roman people, so that a measure which I desire to be
carefully observed by everyone may be fixed in the hearts of all. 3.
Indeed, to impress this princely benefit on both present and future ages,
1 order my command and the Senate's resolution alike to be fittingly
engraved on marble tablets, and placed in the atrium of the church of
the blessed Apostle Peter as a public testimony. For the place is worthy
to hold both my glorious gift, and the praiseworthy decree of the noble
Senate. For this purpose, I have sent X, on whose return I may know
that my commands have been carried out. For a man is uncertain that
his orders have been obeyed if he is belatedly informed of their
fulfillment.

IX. 18 AN EDICT OF KING ATHALARIC (a.533-4)

The ancients wisely resolved that the public should be admonished
with general edicts, by which every crime is corrected, and the
transgressor is not burdened with shame. For all men think themselves
referred to where it is clear that no individual is named, and he who is
reformed as one of a group resembles an innocent man. Hence, too,
my pity is maintained, when fear is bom from an unused sword, and
correction comes without bloodshed. For I am both angry and merciful,
threaten without action, and I unite wrath and clemency, by
condemning vices only.

For a long time, the complaints of various persons have sounded in
my ears with frequent whisperings that certain men have despised civil
order [civilitas], and have chosen to live with the savagery of beasts,
since, returning to primitive rusticity, they have formed a feral hatred
for human law. I now rightly judge that these men must be repressed;
thus I will harass the crimes that are hostile to good morals at the same
time that, by the divine power, I am resisting the enemies of the state.
Both, indeed, are deadly; both must be repelled; but vices ravage the
more seriously the more internal they are. The one is supported by the

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other. Indeed, if we subdue our own crimes, the armies of our enemies
will fall more easily. 10

1. By the severity of the laws and my own anger, I condemn that
chief poison of the human race, the seizure of property \pervasio\,
under which civil order [civilitas] can be neither claimed nor
maintained. * 11 I decree that the law of the divine Valentinian, long
seriously neglected, shall rouse itself against those who despise legal
process, and, in person or by their servants, dare to expel the owner
and violently occupy estates in town or country. 12 Nor do I intend any
of its severity to be abated by abhorrent relaxation. In addition, if any
free man is too poor to satisfy the law confirmed above, he is
immediately to submit to the punishment of exile, since he who knows
himself unable to undergo the penalty in another manner should pay the
more heed to the public laws.

As for the competent governors to whose jurisdiction the admitted
crime may belong, if they allow the invader to hold what he has seized
when they could eject him, they are both to be deprived of the honour
of the belt of office they have assumed, and be liable to my treasury to
the extent of the sum due from the seizer. However, the decrees shall
remain valid against the authors of the crime. But, if anyone is carried
away to such madness that, in a spirit of tyranny, he fails to obey the
public law, and, in his outstanding power, despises the small numbers
of the [governor’s] staff concerned, he will be brought to my ears and
marked out by a report from the governor; an execution by saiones will
be granted; and he who has refused to obey the judge will feel the
vengeance of the royal might.

2. And, because even high princes must live under the common

10 This may refer to an Ostrogothic campaign against the Gepids about this date,
mentioned by Procopius (Wars V.iii.15), or to the growing threats from Franks and
Byzantines.

11 About this time Amalasuintha checked Theodahad’s pervasio , denounced by the
provincials of Tuscia.

12 The eighth Novel of Valentinian IU, dated 440 is probably meant; not, as Mommsen
suggested, Valentinian IPs law, C,7h. IV.22.3, of 389. The former fined pervasores by
the value of the estate seized.

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law, if anyone, omitting legal process, shall presume, or has presumed
to post up titles of ownership in the public name, he is to be liable to
the owner to the extent proclaimed by the aforementioned decree. For
he who has dared to burden the majesty of the royal name with the evil
weight of illicit seizure is also and rightly smitten by the punishment
for sacrilege. Moreover, he who is beaten in court is to pay the
expenses of the case, since it applies stimulants to hateful disputes when
scoundrels are defeated without injury, and false claimants do not
grieve for lost honour if they have escaped without cost to their estates.
3. But should a member of my secretariats suppose that anything is to
be claimed, he shall think to conceal none of the following series of
ordinances from his adversary, so far as concerns his case. He will lose
what he petitioned for, should he disobey. Or, should he try to deprive
him of anything, it will similarly be held invalid, since I wish only
those to enjoy my benefits whom I do not find practising trickery. 13

4. If a man, by punishable seduction, labours to break up another’s
marriage, his own union will be held illicit, so that he may instead
experience himself the fortune which he, in his malignity, tried to
inflict on another. But should he lack married love, I deny him the
right of future matrimony, since he who has dared to behave without
restraint in dividing the marriage bed, does not deserve to obtain the
benefit of conjugal reverence. But, lest my vengeance should pass by
any of those guilty of this crime, should those without hope of present
or future marriage attempt anything by cunning devices against
another’s bedchamber, they are to be deprived of half their property,
which is immediately to be applied to the benefit of the treasury. But,
if poverty prevents the taking of vengeance against the possessions of
some, they are to be punished by exile, lest - and to mention it is a sin
- they should be seen to escape the threat of public law because they
are known to be of the meanest fortune. But my piety has decreed this
for the seducers of another’s love. 5. For the rest, in cases of adultery.

13 Prosecutions brought, or informations laid are envisaged; these would result in
confiscation of property held by criminals and those deprived of the right of testacy. The
informer, or his sponsor, would usually petition for at least part of the property.

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I wish everything that was decreed by imperial rebuke to be most
strictly upheld.

6. No one shall be married to two wives at one time, for he will
know that he is to be punished by loss of his possessions. For this is
either lust, whose enjoyment is not morally allowed; or it is
covetousness, and is legally punished by poverty. 7. But if anyone, in
wanton and shameful desire, despises married decency, and prefers to
go to the embraces of a concubine, if she is a free woman, she and her
children will, in all cases, be made over to the wife, under the yoke of
slavery. Thus, by a moral sentence, she will experience subjection to
one above whom she expected to be placed in her illicit lust. But if it
is a slave woman that attains to such debauchery, she is to be subject
to the vengeance of the wife, excepting the penalty of blood, so that she
may experience as a judge her whom she should have feared in her
absence.

8. No one is to extort deeds of gift by fear; no one should desire
acquisitions by fraud or accursed immorality: honesty alone has the
right to seek profit from the laws. When lawful generosity is alleged,
I wish that investigation to be observed which the laws of the past
decreed through concern for truth. For thus, as they bear witness, no
opportunity will be given to fraud, and truth will grow in authority. In
general, I decree that no one is to regard as valid a deed which the
author made unsure by not fulfilling what justice and the laws
command.

9. Magicians, moreover, and those who have thought to gain
anything by their nefarious arts, are to be pursued with the rigour of
the law, since it is impious for us to be negligent towards those whom
the pity of heaven does not allow to go unpunished. For what stupidity
it is to desert the creator of life [God], and follow instead the originator
of death [Satan]! Disgraceful actions should be wholly shunned by the
magistrates. No one should do what the laws condemn, since those who
have shared in forbidden transgressions must be punished by the
decreed penalty. For what can they condemn in other men, if they
themselves are stained by shameful pollution?

10. A man of modest fortune must also be safe from the rich. All
must refrain from the madness of slaughter. For to dare a physical

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assault is plainly to commit an act of war, especially against those
defended by the authority of my protection [tuitio]. But if anyone, with
wicked daring, should attempt to oppose this, he will be held a violator
of my command.

11.1 do not allow a suspect to appeal from the provincial governors
for a second time in one case, lest what was devised to assist the
innocent should appear a kind of refuge for the criminal. But should
anyone attempt this forbidden repetition, he will depart having lost his
case.

12. But lest, by touching on a few laws, I should be supposed not
to desire the maintenance of the rest, I decree that all edicts, both my
own, and the lord my grandfather’s [Theoderic’s], that were drafted
with honoured deliberation, as also the ordinary public laws, are to be
kept with full force and rigour. Such are the defences with which they
shield themselves that they are also walled round by the addition of my
sworn word. Why should I continue indefinitely? The ordinary rule of
the laws and the integrity of my commands are everywhere to be
upheld.

IX, 19 KING ATHALARIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF
ROME (date as IX. 18)

1. The censurable transgressions of others often give rise to
laudable decrees, and impulses to justice are wonderfully bom from a
criminal circumstance. For equity is silent, if an admitted crime is not
proclaimed, and the spirit of a prince rests idle, if it is not aroused by
some grievance.

2. Now, impelled by the voices of plaintiffs, and warned by appeals
from many of the people about certain matters, I have set down certain
things as necessary for the Roman peace and to be maintained for ever,
by an edictal proclamation of twelve chapters, in the manner that the
civil law, as we read, was instituted. 14 The keeping of these should

14 The allusion is to the Twelve Tables , the earliest Roman law code.

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not be supposed to weaken the remaining laws, but rather to reinforce
them. 3. They are to be read out in the splendour of your assembly,
and the Urban Prefect shall have them solemnly published for thirty
days in the most frequented places, so that my good order [civilitas]
may be recognised, and men of aggressive character deprived of hope.
For how can the violent confidently undertake what they know the
prince’s mercy has condemned? Let all men recover the love of
discipline, by which small things grow strong, and great are preserved.

4. For with this aim, I mobilise my army for frequent expeditions
by God’s help: that I may know the public to be living at peace under
the laws. May I be granted this exchange of benefits, so that he whom
you know to be busy in the service of the state shall seldom be assailed
by the approach of petitioners. The judges should maintain their legal
severity; they should reject the prayers of vile corruption. If the
defendant finds no crime in his judge, fear will set all things in order.

IX.20 KING ATHALARIC TO ALL PROVINCIAL GOVERNORS
(date as IX. 18)

1. Although, by God’s help, I provide for my provinces by the
annual renewal [of governors], and courts are distributed through every
comer of Italy, I have leamt that a wealth of cases are arising from the
shortage of justice. It is clearly the fault of your negligence, when men
are forced to request from me the help of the laws. For who would
choose to seek so far afield what he sees arriving in his own territory?
2. But, to deprive you of your cunning excuses, and the provincials of
their harsh necessities, I have decided to regulate with an edictal decree
certain cases heretofore neglected by scandalous torpor. Thus your
confidence in correctly judging may grow, and malign daring be
gradually diminished. This edict you are solemnly to publish by posting
it for thirty days in the public assemblies, so that he who, after this
remedy, dares to continue in wickedness may justly be condemned.

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IX.21 KING ATHALARIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF
ROME (a.533)

1. As you know, I have referred disputes involving sons to the
Fathers [the senators], that they may take thought for the careers of
those affected by the advancement of education at Rome. For it is
incredible that you should lack concern for something which brings
honours to your offspring, and gives your assembly the counsel that
comes from constant reading. Now recently - for I am always careful
and anxious for your sake - I came to know by discreet report from
various people, that the teachers of eloquence at Rome are not
receiving the constituted rewards for their labours, and that the
trafficking of certain men has caused the sums assigned to the masters
of the schools to be diminished.

2. Therefore, since it is clear that rewards feed the arts, I have
judged it abominable that anything should be stolen from the teachers
of youth; they should instead be incited to their noble studies by an
increase in their fees. 3. For the school of grammar has primacy: it is
the fairest foundation of learning, the glorious mother of eloquence,
which has learnt to aim at praise, to speak without a fault. As good
morals view an alien crime, so it views a dissonant error in the course
of declamation. For, as the musician creates the sweetest song from a
choir in harmony, so, by well ordered modulations of sound, the
grammarian can recite in metre. 4. Grammar is the mistress of words,
the embellisher of the human race; through the practice of the noble
reading of ancient authors, she helps us, we know, by her counsels.
The barbarian kings do not use her; as is well known, she remains
unique to lawful rulers. For the tribes possess arms and the rest;
rhetoric is found in sole obedience to the lords of the Romans. Thence
the battle of the orators sounds the war-call of civil law; thence noble
eloquence recommends all leading men; and thence, to say no more,

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my present words derive. 15

5. Therefore, fathers of the Senate, with God’s approval, I enjoin
on you this duty, this authority: a succeeding professor in the school of
liberal studies, whether the grammarian, the rhetorician, or the teacher
of law, shall receive from those responsible, without any diminution,
the income of his predecessor. And, once confirmed by the authority
of your chief order and the rest of the most noble Senate, so long as he
is found fit for the work he has undertaken, he must suffer no man’s
improper challenge involving either the transfer or the reduction of his
salary; but, under your ordinance and protection, he is to enjoy his
emoluments in security. The Urban Prefect, too, is to maintain these
lawful rights. 6. And, lest there should be any loophole left to the
whim of those who dispense the income, immediately six months have
passed, the aforementioned masters are to receive half the decreed sum;
the remainder of the year shall be concluded with the due payment of
the salary outstanding: those for whom it is a sin to be idle for an hour
must not be forced to wait on another’s pride. 7. For I want the laws
to be upheld with such firmness that, if anyone concerned should think
to delay this tax - so to speak - that is owing, he shall be charged
interest as expiation, since, with criminal greed, he has deprived of
their revenues those engaged in valuable labours. 8. For, if I bestow
my wealth on actors for the pleasure of the people, and men who are
not thought so essential are meticulously paid, how much more should
payment be made without delay to those through whom good morals
are advanced, and the talent of eloquence is nurtured to serve my
palace!

9. Furthermore, I command your venerable assembly to explain this
to the present masters of letters: as they recognise my concern for their
revenues, so they should know that I require their more zealous
attention to the education of young men. That disposition adopted by

13 3-4 may have echoes of Ennodius, 452. 11-12, 14, 16 (Opusc. 6), an exhortation to
learning and sound morals, addressed to students at Rome. Cf., also, Ennodius, 80.90
{Life of Epiphanius) y where the warlike Visigothic king Euric admits himself defeated by
Roman eloquence.

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the whingeing dons of satire must now cease, since talent should not be
dominated by ‘two interests’. It is clear that they already have ‘an
adequate lodging’: 16 hence it is right that they should now cling
steadily to a single concern, and be turned with all their mental energy
to the study of the noble arts.

IX.24 KING ATHALARIC TO [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR,
PRAETORIAN PREFECT (a.533, Sept. 1st)

1. If my approval had chanced to find you still obscure and
unhonoured, I would indeed be rejoicing at my discovery, but in much
doubt as to the result, since there is more hope than fruit in novelty.
But since you glory in the countless promotions and mighty approval
of the lord my grandfather [Theoderic], it is unfitting to scrutinise one
for whom I can scarcely express my admiration. Indeed, the verdicts
of such a prince should not be examined, but revered - his actions
cannot be questioned, since I am aware that I too was his selection.
Ever assiduous in prayer, he deservedly obtained for his doings the
protection of Heaven’s grace. 2. For when did he give a man charge
of an army, and not receive him with victory, or appoint a magistrate,
and not prove him to be upright? You would think he had some
converse with the future; for what his mind conceived was always
accomplished, and, by a marvellous operation of wisdom, he never
doubted in events which he truly foresaw.

3. Again, I can demonstrate in your person this outstanding
characteristic of the king. He took you up in your youth, and soon
found you endowed with probity, mature in legal learning, and ready
for the office of Quaestor. No wonder you were the chief glory of
those times, since your unoffending service gave him tranquillity in his
care for all things, while the power of your eloquence upheld that great

16 Cassiodorus quotes Juvenal, Satire vii.63-70. (Ennodius, 452.4, quotes vii.209f.) For
the taste of late 4th century senators for Juvenal, see Ammianus Marcellinus,

XXVm.4.14.

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mass of the royal mind. He held you elegant in official composition,
strict in justice, and free from cupidity. 4. Indeed, you never sold his
favours at a scandalous valuation, so that your position brought you the
riches of respect, since it never submitted to a bribe. Hence, being cut
off from crime by an obvious gulf, you were clearly linked in glorious
affection to a most upright prince. That wisest of judges burdened you
with a weight of appeals, and trusted so much in your well known legal
judgement that, as a favour, he unhesitatingly gave your verdict to
disputing parties. 5. How many times did he use you to shame aged
courtiers, when those whom long life had instructed could not rival
your youthful efforts? Clearly, he had an outstanding quality to
proclaim in you: a soul accessible to men's claims for favour, and shut
fast against the vice of avarice. (Closed hands and open justice are
mysteriously rare among men.)

6. Let me move on to the post of Master, which we know that you
obtained not through lavish gifts of money, but the advocacy of your
character. Once in that office, you constantly assisted the Quaestors;
for, when refined eloquence was needed, the case was straightway
entrusted to your genius. A kindly prince required from you what he
knew he had never committed to you; by an unfair favour, he freed
others from toil that he might fill you with the generous praise of his
good opinion. 7. For with you no office kept to its proper limits, since
what was in reality the business of many courtiers was openly entrusted
to your honour. Nobody could whisper a word of opposition to you,
although you were enduring the envy that arises from royal favour. The
integrity of your actions defeated your would-be slanderers; your
enemies were often forced to admit what they did not feel in their
hearts. For all malice fears to expose itself to general hatred by
maligning manifest good. 8. To the master of the state, you acted as a
household judge, and a private courtier. For, when free from public
business, he asked you to recount the opinions of the wise, so that he
might compare his own deeds with those of antiquity. The courses of
the stars, the gulfs of the sea, the marvels of springs were investigated
by this shrewd enquirer, so that, by diligent scrutiny of the natural

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world, he might seem a kind of purple-clad philosopher. 17 It would be
a long task to tell all. No, I will turn instead to my own favour, so that
you may feel that his evident debt to you is duly paid by the heir to his
rule.

9. Therefore, by God’s help, under whose inspiration all things
prosper, I appoint you, from the twelfth indiction [533-4], to the
Praetorian Prefecture, with its tribunal and insignia. Thus, the
provinces, which, I realise, have heretofore been harassed by the
activity of scoundrels, may fearlessly receive a well-tried magistrate.
But, although you have your father’s Prefecture, praised throughout the
realm of Italy, as a model, I still do not present you with other men’s
examples. Show your own character, and you will fulfil the prayers of
all. 10. With God’s help, traverse that field of glory which, I know,
you have always sought. For if, as I believe, this honour too will
demonstrate your integrity, you will have conquered the vain ambitions
of the world. It is not, indeed, your practice to sell justice; but now
you must help zealously those harmed by deliberate injury. Your
incorruptible judgement must guard against hands accustomed to evil.
Let the efforts of the deceitful be everywhere warded off, for this is a
worthy achievement for an honest magistrate. Moreover, by long
postponing your promotion, I have worn out everyone’s petitions on
your behalf, thus proving the public’s goodwill for you, and making
your arrival more desired by all. For it is human nature to despise what
is quickly procured, since every precious thing is cheapened when
offered, and, by contrast, a gift is more welcome when received after
some delay.

11. But I am not content only to praise your period of office.
Vindicate all the revenues to which the Praetorian Prefecture is entitled,
and which other men’s greed is plainly embezzling. Let no one glory

11 On historical examples and the moral training of rulers, cf. Ammianus Marcellinus,
XXX.8.4-9; contrast IX.25.11. Theoderic’s taste for natural marvels is confirmed by the
300 ton monolith which he ‘sought out* (Anonymus Valesianus 96), as a cupola for his
tomb. The phrase ‘purple-clad philosopher’ evokes the Platonic ideal of the philosopher
king, and may echo Themistius, Or. 34.viii.34.

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in his thefts or privileges. I have sent you as a light into hidden things,
since no man can deceive your intelligence, or bend your loyalty with
any bribe. 12. In previous posts, you gave examples of wonderful
integrity: establish a rule for this office also. 18 For, although you have
discharged almost all high appointments with consistency, you still
retain the good resolves of honour, in which there should be no
measure. For here it is proper to fix no boundary; here honourable
ambition is demonstrated, even the excess of which is pleasing. Indeed,
with any praiseworthy thing, the more eager the search for it, the more
glorious its attainment.

IX.25 KING ATHALARIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF
ROME (date as IX.24)

1. Fathers of the Senate, I have truly loaded with my favours a man
well endowed with the virtues, rich in character, filled with high
honours - [Cassiodorus] Senator. If you consider his merits, all that I
have paid him is a debt. For what reward should distinguish one who
has often filled the ears of his masters with shining oratory, who has
managed the offices entrusted to him with outstanding authority, and
has striven to shape an epoch for which the prince would deservedly be
praised?

The truth and eloquence of his speeches have swayed the mind of
the king, whose every deed he so recounted that the doer himself might
wonder at them. 2. His unaided arguments delighted all men; and, by
investing purple praises with his hearer, he made you welcome my
rule. He who softens and appeases the heights of royal power by his
orations commends his race, for another of your number will be
supposed a man of similar character, from whom like services may be
requested. 3. Furthermore, with what loyal eloquence did he proclaim

11 Avienus, son of Faustus Niger, succeeding a corrupt Praetorian Prefect in 527, was
similarly urged to clean up the administration, and (perhaps ironically) to imitate his
father (Vffl.20).

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the father of my clemency [Eutharic] in the very Senate-house of
Liberty! You remember how that noble orator extolled his deeds,
showing his virtues to be more wonderful than his honours. I can prove
my words to the hilt. Consider, fathers of the Senate, the favour with
which you were viewed by one who saw himself so exalted by your
body. Indeed, to glorious rulers, eulogies are more welcome than taxes,
since dues are paid even to a tyrant, but only a virtuous prince deserves
oratory. 19

Why, honourable sirs, should you suppose that Cassiodorus was
content merely to essay the praise of living lords, a task of inevitable
tedium, although they may be expected to reward it? 4. He extended
his labours even to the ancient cradle of our house, learning from his
reading what the hoary recollections of our elders scarcely preserved.
From the lurking place of antiquity he led out the kings of the Goths,
long hidden in oblivion. He restored the Amals, along with the honour
of their family, clearly proving me to be of royal stock to the
seventeenth generation. 20 5. From Gothic origins he made a Roman
history, gathering, as it were, into one garland, flower-buds that had
previously been scattered throughout the fields of literature. 6. Think
how much he loved you in praising me, when he showed the nation of
your prince to be a wonder from ancient days. In consequence, as you
have ever been thought noble because of your ancestors, so you shall
be ruled by an ancient line of kings. I can say no more, fathers of the
Senate; and, should I persevere in recounting his benefits, those
collected here would be surpassed.

7. With what toil, too, he devoted himself to the first days of my
reign, when the newness of the regime required that much be set in
order. Alone, he sufficed for all things: the composition of state
documents demanded him; so too did my counsels; and his labour
meant that my rule did not labour. 8. I found him, admittedly, Master
of the Offices, but he filled the post of Quaestor for me; and, carrying
out my acts of beneficence with justice and loyalty, he willingly showed

19 For the fragments of this panegyric, see MGH AA XII, 465-72.

20 On Cassiodorus as Amal genealogist, see Heather.

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the careful diligence which he had learnt from my grandfather
[Theoderic] to the benefit of his heir.

But to all this he added something greater, and aided the first days
of my reign with arms, as well as letters. 9. For, while the royal mind
was obsessed by defence of the coasts, he was suddenly expelled from
his literary sanctuary, equalled his ancestors, and fearlessly took up a
general’s command [ ducatum ]. 21 In this, since the enemy did not
appear, he triumphed by his outstanding character. For he fed the
Goths assigned to him at his own expense, so that he neither injured the
provincials, nor loaded my treasury with the burden of expense. His
arms brought no loss to the land-owners. No wonder that he was the
truest guardian of the province, for he who protects without damage
rightly earns the name of defender, 10. But soon, when the season
checked the movement of ships, and the fear of war was dissolved, he
employed his talent instead as a champion of the laws, healing, without
loss to the litigants, wounds which, it was well known, were formerly
inflicted for bribes. Such, you may read, were the general’s commands
of Metellus in Asia, 22 of Cato in Spain, men praised more for their
discipline than their battles; for the result of an engagement is always
unpredictable, but to keep the measure of good conduct is an
undisputed glory.

11. What then? It is usual for men to be puffed up when they know
themselves well thought of; but surely he did not presume on such an
achievement, and boast himself vaingloriously? Did he not behave with
such courtesy that you would suppose the royal favour had been
bestowed on him as an act of kindness, not a reward? He showed
goodwill to all, was moderate in prosperity, and knew no anger, unless
when gravely wronged. Although he is a man of strict justice, he does
not refuse, in his severity, to forgo his wrath. He is remarkably

21 Theoderic’s last years had been marked by a quarrel with the Vandals, chief naval
power in the western Mediterranean, who were then coming under imperial influence;
they may have been responsible for this threat to the coasts.

22 This may be Q.Caecilius Metellus Numidicus, Consul in 109 B.C.; if so, ‘Asia’ is an
error for Africa.

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generous with his goods, and, while incapable of pursuing others’
property, he knows well how to be a lavish giver of his own. Now this
disposition his studies in divinity have confirmed, since affairs are
always well conducted if the fear of heaven is opposed to human
impulses. For thence is derived the clear understanding of every virtue;
thence wisdom is seasoned with the flavour of truth. Thus, the man
imbued with the discipline of heaven is rendered lowly in all things.

12. To this man, then, fathers of the Senate, with God’s approval,
I have assigned the office of Praetorian Prefect, for him to govern from
the twelfth indiction [533-4]. Thus, by God’s help and his own
integrity, he may allay all the disputes which have accumulated through
the trafficking of the untrustworthy, and, too long awaited, so act that
he may serve all men. May heaven assist his plans, so that he, whose
wisdom I have proved by long acquaintance, may be found successful
in his own case, loyal to me, and useful to the state. May he leave to
posterity a reputation by which he will make his family famous for
ever.

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X.3 QUEEN AMALASUINTHA TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY
OF ROME (a.534, after Oct.2nd.)

1. Following the lamentable death of my son of divine memory,
love of the common good overcame the soul of his devoted mother, so
that she considered not her reasons for grief, but rather your profit. I
looked to a ruler’s cares as a source of strength and comfort. But that
unique author of purity and pity [God], while depriving me of a
youthful son, preserved for me the love of an adult cousin.

2. With God’s favour, I have chosen as partner in my realm the
most fortunate Theodahad. Thus I, who previously bore the burden of
the state in solitary cogitation, may now pursue the good of all with
united counsels, so that we who are two in our processes of thought
may seem one person in our conclusions. The very stars of heaven are
governed by mutual help, and order the world with their light by
sharing and exchanging toil. Furthermore, Providence has given man
himself two hands, a pair of ears, twin eyes, that the work
accomplished by two partners may be done more effectively. 3.
Rejoice, fathers of the Senate, and commend my deed in your prayers
to the powers above. I who have chosen to order all things with
another’s counsel, have willed nothing blameworthy. In fact, a shared
rule is a guarantee of good character, since the ruler who has a partner
in power is rightly credited with a mild disposition.

Therefore, by God’s help, I have kept my palace for a noble and
distinguished man of my family: one who, sprung of Amal stock, will
display royal stature in his actions. He is patient in adversity, moderate
in prosperity, and - the hardest power to wield - has long been
governor of himself. 4. To these good qualities is added enviable
literary learning, which confers splendour on a nature deserving praise.
There the wise man finds what will make him wiser; the warrior
discovers what will strengthen him with courage; the prince learns how
to administer his people with equity; and there can be no station in life
which is not improved by the glorious knowledge of letters.

5. Receive something greater that the common prayers have
earned: your prince is also learned in ecclesiastical letters. They

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constantly remind us of what benefits mankind: to judge justly, to know
the good, to venerate the divine, to think on the coming judgement. For
he who believes that he must stand trial for his verdicts will inevitably
follow the path of justice. 1 may be acquainted with the reading that
whets the intellect; but divine reading strives ever to make a man
devout.

6. I will move on to that most lavish sobriety he showed in private
life: it won him so much wealth through his gifts, such a store of things
through his banquets that, when his former efforts are considered, there
seems nothing new in his kingship. He has been most ready in
hospitality, most pitiful in charity: thus, while he spent so much of his
own, his estates increased by heavenly recompense. All the world
should wish for such a man as I have chosen, one who orders his
property by the light of reason, and does not desire another’s. For
princes are not driven to extortion when they are used to administering
and restraining their private affairs. 1 7. No wonder that precept has
been praised which counsels moderation, since even the good displeases
us in excess.

Rejoice, now, fathers of the Senate, and make your prayers for us
to the heavenly grace, since I have appointed as my fellow prince a
man who will both execute the good deeds that spring from my justice,
and display what belongs to his own devotion. For he is both
admonished by the virtue of his ancestors, and effectively stimulated by
his uncle Theoderic.

X.5 KING THEODAHAD TO HIS SERVANT THEODOSIUS (date
as X.3)

1. It is my will that restraint should be the arbiter of affairs in my
state of power, so that, the more I receive divine blessings, the more
I may love equity. Indeed, private interests are clearly excluded from

1 Amalasuintha had recently checked Theodahad’s notorious land-grabbing; the irony is
probably deliberate.

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my heart, because, as common lord, I am made, by God's help, the
guardian of all.

And therefore, by this order, I command that no one who is
known to belong to my household, and is entrusted to your supervision,
is to become overbearing in his arrogance; for only he who is at peace
with the laws shall be called my own. Increase my reputation by your
patience. 2. If anyone should happen to have a dispute with another,
they must resort to the common laws: let the courts protect you, not
wicked arrogance. I intend discipline to begin with my household, so
that others may be ashamed to go wrong, when they see that I give my
own men no license to transgress. I have changed my conduct with my
station; and if, before, I keenly defended my just rights, I now temper
all things with mercy. For a prince has no personal household; but I
declare that whatever, by God’s help, I rule, that thing is peculiarly my
own. Take great care, then, about those who were formerly under my
legal control: allow no one to transgress the laws in anything. Praise
of you should reach my ears, rather than some complaint, since a good
conscience is truly in command only when it hastens to excel in every
way.

X.ll KING THEODAHAD TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS MAXIMUS,
MEMBER OF THE CORPS OF BODYGUARDS 2
(a.535, Sept. 1st)

If it is the glory of worthy princes to distinguish unknown persons
by honours, since rulers win praise for the advancement of their
subjects, how much more important it is for me to render to a most
noble family what I know it has deserved even by the fortune of birth!
For it is thus that I follow justice, by not denying to worthy heirs the

2 Anicius Maximus, Consul in 523 (V.42), was a kinsman of Boethius, and probable
descendant of the emperor Petronius Maximus (455). He was driven from Rome in 537
on suspicion of pro-Gothic treachery, but was killed by the Goths in 552; the name of
his Amal bride is unknown.

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rewards due to their forebears. For those who have deserved to live in
my reign should surpass even their ancestors. 2. Assuredly, ancient
times begot the Anicii, a house almost equal to princes; the dignity of
their name, channelled down to you from the fountain of blood,
gathering its powers, has shone out renewed and with greater joy.
Who, then, would bequeath to posterity with lessened honour those who
have so long been outstanding? My age would be condemned if such
a family could lie hidden. But if only a greater span of life had
preserved the Marii and Corvini for me! Had it befallen me to rule
over men of such merits, a prince’s hopes would be fulfilled - if only
just. Yes, how could I, who long for things past, now neglect what I
have discovered?

3. And therefore - may the decision be fortunate -1 confer on you
from the fourteenth indiction [535-6] the rank of senior membership
[primicerius ], which is also called the domesticates 3 4 You will enjoy
all the rights that pertain to its functions. Although this honour may
seem inferior to your origins, it still seems more fortunate than all your
magistracies: for, in my time you have earned a bride of royal blood
whom you did not dare to hope for in your Consulship.

4. Now so act as to make the honour you prayed for acceptable
to me. Think on what you have earned, and you will behave as a man
worthy of my kinship. For he who is united to a ruler’s family is
placed in the very bosom of fame. Gentleness is now given a greater

3 Gennadius Avienus (Consul, 450), father of Faustus Niger, claimed descent from the
Valerii Corvini of the republic (Sidonius, Ep. 1.9.4); apparently he united his line with
the Anicii. The Anician link with the republican general Marius (c. 157*86 B.C.) is
otherwise unattested.

4 This rank was originally reached by seniority in the bodyguards ( domestici ); like their
Countship (11.16), it is probably now honorary. Theodahad’s apologetic gift of a
non -illustris rank to a former Consul may be diplomatic: early in 536, he was to
undertake not to confer Patriciates and illustris offices without imperial consent
(Procopius, Wars V.vi.3). However, Maximus’ title may have been that of primiceriatus
cubiculi given with the office of Count of the Sacred Largesses (cf. VI.7.4,9, Mommsen,
1889, 463f., PLRE II, 748). If so, Theodahad may be conferring illustris rank without
offending Justinian!

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task: beneficence and courtesy must now be dedicated to all, thus
proving me to have chosen a man whom no prosperity can change.
Enjoy your glory in humility, since fame is earned by modesty, hatred
aroused by arrogance. Indeed, envy is the sure companion of
promotion; pugnacity always increases it, but it is best overcome by
forbearance. 5. Above all other virtues, cherish patience, which is dear
to the wise. Elevated by me, you will be praised more for enduring
than avenging wrongs. Overcome anger; love kindness. Take care that
your good fortune does not seem superior to your character; instead,
being bound to my family, prove yourself close kin by your glorious
actions. Heretofore, your family has indeed been praised, but it has not
been adorned by such a bond. There is no further way for your nobility
to increase. Whatever you achieve with distinction will make you seem
worthy of your own marriage.

[Maximus’ unprecedented marriage, and the honour here conferred may mark an alliance
between Theodahad and associates of Boethius (Barnish, 1990,28ff.); they certainly show
royal anxiety to reconcile the Senate on the eve of war.]

X.13 KING THEODAHAD TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF
ROME (a.535, late/536)

1. I acknowledged the embassy of the venerable bishops and sent
them back; nor did I oppose your requests, although I disapproved of
them. Afterwards, certain men came to me, and reported that the city
of Rome was still troubled by foolish anxiety, and was so behaving as
to create from doubtful suspicions a certain peril for itself, unless it
should concern my kindness to intervene.

Consider, from this, who should be blamed for the senseless
fickleness of the people except the Senate, by which all things should
be controlled and calmed. 2. All the provinces should, in fact, be so
admonished by your wisdom that they adopt an attitude to do credit to
the new reign of their prince. Indeed, if Rome offends, what city
cannot be pardoned? The lesser hastens to model itself on the greater,
and those who give a model to the erring rightly bear the blame for

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another's deed.

3. But 1 give thanks to God, who has instead enhanced His gifts
by your transgressions. Behold, I have pardoned your faults before
experiencing any acts of loyalty. I am no debtor, but I still pay; I am
your benefactor in advance, so that later I may find you grateful. But,
although, in this case, the strictness of my restraint is affirmed, I still
wish myself to be honoured only if the goodwill of Roman loyalty can
also be demonstrated. For I profit more from your reputation than from
praise for my constant composure. 4. Discard suspicions that are for
ever alien to your order. The Senate, which ought to govern others by
its paternal exhortation, should not require correction. For whence will
good conduct derive its inspiration, should the fathers of the state be
found unequal to their task? It is enough for noblemen, it is enough for
men of honour, that I am encouraging in the aim of perfect loyalty
those whom I have blamed a little for their perverse suspicion.

For, in requesting your presence [at court], I have taken deep
thought to benefit, not to injure and harass you; hence, you should
carry out all the more what I know will be to your advantage. 5. To
see the prince is a sure favour. Men usually seek it as a reward;
through you, I intend it to benefit the state. But, lest this very medicine
should seem, in any way, a bitter one, I have ordered individuals to be
summoned to me as affairs require, so that Rome is not stripped of its
citizens, while my counsels are assisted by men of wisdom. 5

6. Return, then, to your original loyalty, and let my cares, which
I sustain for the common good, be instead assisted by your talents. For
this has always been grafted on you, to offer resolute integrity to your
princes, and to obey not from the compulsion of fear, but rather from
love of the ruler. I have charged X, the bearer of this letter, with the
remainder to be delivered orally, so that you may trust in my
admonitions, with all doubtful thoughts removed.

[Roman fears seem to have been aroused by Theodahad’s proposal to install a Gothic
garrison; cf. X.14, 18. (Officially, this was to provide external, not internal security, an

5 Cf. 111,28.

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excuse which helps to date the letters.) He is politely threatening to hold senators hostage
at the court. However, when Witigis replaced him, both intentions apparently had still
to be fulfilled (Procopius, Wars V.xi.26). Theodahad’s position was very weak, and, at
some stage, he reassured the Senate and people by an oath of goodwill (XI. 16-17).]

X.20 KING THEODAHAD TO THE EMPRESS THEODORA
(a.535, perhaps in May)

I. I have received your piety’s letters with the gratitude always
due to things we long for, and have gained, with most reverent joy,
your verbal message, more exalted than any gift. I promise myself
everything from so serene a soul, since, in such kindly discourse, I
have received whatever I could hope for. 2. For you exhort me to bring
first to your attention anything I decide to ask from the triumphal
prince, your husband. Who can now doubt that what so great a power
deigns to advocate will attain its object? Previously, indeed, I relied on
the justice of my cause, but now I have more happiness in your
promise. For my pleas cannot be adjourned when they involve her who
has a right to an audience. Now fulfill your promises, that you may
cause the man to whom you gave a sure hope to hold his own.

3. It also adds to my joy that your serenity has despatched such
a man as so much glory should send, and your service should retain. 6
For inevitably, she in whom it is constantly observed chooses a man of
good character, since a mind formed by worthy precepts is clearly
purified.

Hence it is that, advised by your reverence, I ordained that both
the most blessed Pope [probably Agapitus] and the most noble Senate
should reply without any delay to what you saw fit to request from
them: thus, your glory will lose no reverence because a spirit of delay
opposed it; but rather, speed of action will increase your favour that we

6 This is Peter, later Justinian's Master of Offices, and a learned and eloquent historian
praised by John Lydus. Cassiodorus is here praising an ex-prostitute for her moral
upbringing!

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pray for. 4. For, in the case of that person * 7 too, about whom a delicate
hint has reached me, know that I have ordered what I trust will agree
with your intention. For it is my desire that you should command no
less in my realm than in your empire, through the medium of your
influence. Now, I inform you that I made the venerable Pope issue the
afore-mentioned reply before your envoy, the bearer of this letter,
could leave the city of Rome, lest anything might happen to oppose
your intention.

5. Therefore, saluting you with the reverence that should be
shown to such merits, I have taken special care to send the venerable
[bishop] X, a man of weight, both for character and doctrine, and to
be revered for the honour of his holiness, with the office of envoy to
your clemency; 8 for I believe that you will welcome those persons
whom I judge acceptable in the divine mysteries.

X.21 QUEEN GUDELIVA TO THE EMPRESS THEODORA
(date as X.20)

1. You should consider, wisest of empresses, how urgently I
desire to win your favour, which the lord my husband also wishes very
zealously to obtain. For, although this is dear to him in every way, to
me, though, it is clearly of special importance, since the love of such
a queen can so exalt me that I evidently find something superior to a
kingdom. 9 For what can be more welcome than to appear a sharer in
the glory of your love? Since you shine out so profusely, make a
willing loan to me from your own splendour, for light loses nothing
when its radiance is lavished on another. Encourage my desires, which
you know to be altogether sincere. Your favour should commend me

1 Is this Amalasuintha?

1 This is probably not the Rusticus of Procopius, Wars V.vi.13, who was probably

identical with a deacon of Rome.

9 Theodahad and Gudeliva hoped to find * something superior to a kingdom’ in a title,
estates, and the emperor’s friendship at Constantinople (Procopius, Wars V.vi. 12,15-26).

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in every realm. For you should make me bright, since I wish to shine
from your lustre.

2. Therefore, giving your serenity a reverent greeting, with
affectionate daring I commend myself to your heart. I hope that your
marvellous wisdom may so order all things that the trust which your
heart grants me will grow ever fuller. For, although there should be no
discord between the Roman realms, nonetheless, an affair 10 has arisen
of a kind which should make me still dearer to your justice.

X.22 KING THEODAHAD TO THE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN
(date probably as X.20)

1. You remember, wisest of princes, thanks both to my envoys,
and to the most eloquent Peter, whom your piety recently despatched
to me, the zeal with which I am seeking peace with your imperial
serenity. And now I must again make the same requests, through the
most holy [bishop] X, so that pleas which you know have been
frequent, you may judge to be true and affectionate. Indeed, since I
have no reasons for conflict, I ask for peace in all sincerity. May such
a peace come to me, so well settled, so glorious, that I may seem to
have done right in seeking it by such prayers. But the task I have
undertaken should not be a burden; instead, consider what is right for
me. 2. For he whose cause is supposed to be ordered by reason is
drawn to acts of kindness; nor can he who wins more glory by helping
one who trusts him prefer his own profit.

Consider, also, learned prince, the historical records of your
ancestors. * 11 Remember how much your predecessors took care to

10 Is this the murder of Amalasuintha? Cf. Bury, II, 167.

11 For et abavi vestri historica monimenta, Mommsen (also Fridh) read et Ablabi vestri ...,
seeing a reference to the lost history of Ablavius, ‘describer of the Goths’, cited in
Jordanes’ Getica , and so probably known to Cassiodorus. In favour of the MSS, see
Goffart, 1988, 62, n.208, followed here. Justinian was the second emperor of his house;
‘ancestors’ is merely an elegant variation on ‘predecessors’. The Getica is interested in
treaty relations between emperors and Goths.

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concede from their legal rights, that they might procure alliances
[foedera] with my forebears. Weigh up the gratitude with which things
repeatedly demanded should be received when freely offered. I am
stating the truth, not speaking in arrogance. What I am trying to prove
is really to the advantage of your glory, since those who know
themselves to be better than their forebears are now seeking an increase
of your favour. Let those whom you once joined to you by zealous
generosity be linked to your heart in gratuitous friendship; otherwise,
good things may be thought to belong only to those times which you
are surpassing with a wealth of kindness and a flow of gifts.

3. And therefore, addressing you in advance with an honourable
greeting, I have caused the venerable X, distinguished by his priesthood
and famous for the praise of his doctrine, to convey to your love the
prayers of my embassy. For I trust in the divine power, that he will
both please you amply by his merits, and achieve the aims of a sincere
request; I hope to receive him quickly, with the business carried out.
But, because a letter cannot include everything, I have entrusted some
material to be brought verbally to your sacred notice, lest the lengthy
reading of documents should weary you.

[Much of Justinian’s propaganda from this period asserts his superiority to previous
emperors, but affirms historical interests, and respect for Roman tradition (see Maas).
Cassiodorus seems alive to this in his diplomatic drafting.]

X.26 KING THEODAHAD TO THE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN
(a.535)

1. I appreciate that the favour of your serenity is richer than any
gift, since what you urge me to do would profit me in every way.
Such, indeed, is the constant prayer of one who loves you: that you
should request me to take up cases of pity which may commend me to
the divine power.

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2. And therefore, I bring to the notice of your glory the
monastery of God’s servants, which was reported to you to be
labouring under heavy taxation, since its land has been covered by a
great flood, and has become barren through hostile waters. What is
more, I have given instructions to the most eminent Praetorian Prefect
[Cassiodorus] Senator that, by his provident ordinance, a careful
inspector should go to the estate complained of; and, when an orderly
enquiry has taken place, and things have been weighed up, whatever
burden the holding may suffer from shall be reasonably removed. Thus,
its owners will be left with a proper and sufficient benefit, since I judge
concessions made in accordance with the wish of your kindness to be
truly my most precious gain.

3. Furthermore, about the case of Ranilda, of which your serenity
deigned to remind me, it happened a long time ago, under the rule of
my kin. However, it is my duty to settle the matter from my own
generosity, that, by such a deed, her change of religion may cause her
no regret. 12 4. Indeed, I do not presume to exercise judgement in
those cases where I have no special mandate. For, since the Deity
allows various religions to exist, I do not dare to impose one alone. For
I remember reading that we should sacrifice to the Lord of our own
will, not at the command of anyone who compels us [Psalm 53.8 /
54.6]. He who tries to do otherwise clearly opposes the heavenly
decree. Rightly, then, your piety requests me to do what is enjoined on
me by the divine ordinances.

[This letter shows Justinian's interference in Italian affairs before the outbreak of war.
Catholic-Arian relations may have been a pretext for invasion which Procopius ignored.
Despite its servility, the letter - as published - implies a criticism of the intolerant
emperor; cf. 11.27.]

12 Ranilda had presumably converted from Arian to Catholic Christianity.

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X.31 KING WITIGIS TO ALL THE GOTHS (a.536, about Dec. 1st)

1. Although every promotion must be ascribed to the gift of God,
nor is anything a blessing unless we know that He bestowed it,
nonetheless, the case of royal office must be especially ascribed to the
judgement of Heaven. For God Himself has certainly ordained the man
to whom He assigns the obedience of His people.

Hence I thank my originator most humbly, and announce that my
kinsmen the Goths, placing me on a shield among the swords of battle,
in the ancestral way, have conferred on me the kingly office by God’s
gift. Thus arms bestow an honour based on a reputation won in war.
2. For you must know that I was chosen not in privy chambers, but in
the wide and open fields; I was not sought among the subtle debates of
sycophants, but as the trumpets blared, so that the Gothic race of Mars,
roused by such a din, and longing for their native courage, might find
themselves a martial king. 13 For could brave men, nourished among
the turmoils of war, long endure a prince so untried that they were
anxious for his fame, although they trusted in their own courage? For
inevitably, the reputation of a whole people corresponds to the ruler
which that race has earned. 3. Now as you may have heard, I was
summoned by the perils of my kindred, and came prepared to endure
the common fortune with you all; but those who were looking for an
experienced king did not suffer me to be their general [dux]. Therefore,
give your assent first to the judgement of divine favour, then to the
judgement of the Goths, since, by voting for me unanimously, all of
you make me king.

Put aside now your fear of punishment, discard suspicions that
you will suffer loss: you need fear no harsh treatment under my rule.
I who have waged war many times know how to love the brave.
Moreover, I am the witness to each of your warriors. There is no need
for another to recount your deeds to me: I am a partner in your toils,
and know them all. Gothic arms will never be broken by any change

13 Like others, Cassiodorus falsely identified the Goths with the warlike Thracian Getae,
who worshipped the war-god Mars.

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in my promises to you: all that I do will look to the benefit of our race;
I will not have private attachments; I promise to pursue what will
honour the royal name. 14 5. Finally, I promise that my rule will, in
all things, be such as the Goths should possess following the glorious
Theoderic. He was a man peculiarly and nobly formed for the cares of
kingship, so that every prince is rightly considered excellent only in so
far as he is known to love his policies. Hence, he who can imitate his
deeds should be thought of as his kinsman. And therefore you should
take thought for the general good of our realm, with, by God’s help,
an easy mind as to its internal affairs.

[Exasperated by Theodahad’s military lethargy, the Gothic army elevated Witigis while
it was on campaign; it had apparently played no part in the accessions of Theodahad or
Athalaric. In his panegyric on Witigis, Cassiodorus stressed his warlike qualities, and
contrasted Athalaric (MGH AA XU, 473-9).]

X.32 KING WITIGIS TO THE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN
(a.537, Dec.)

i. What the prayed-for sweetness of your favour means to me,
most merciful emperor, may be understood from this fact: after so
many terrible injuries, and the infliction of so much bloodshed, I am
to be seen asking you for peace, as though none of your servants had
previously injured me. I have endured such wrongs as might trouble
even the perpetrators: persecutions with no charge brought, hatred
unaroused by offence, losses where no debt was incurred. And this
cannot be passed over as trivial: it was inflicted not in the provinces
only, but in the capital itself. Think what grievances I am setting aside
to obtain your justice. A deed has been done for the world to talk of,
and it should be so settled by you that all may wonder at your equity.
2. For if vengeance on king Theodahad is sought, I deserve your love.
If you have before your eyes respect for Queen Amalasuintha of divine

14 The Goths had suspected Theodahad of treason, and had resented his favouritism.

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memory, you should think on her daughter [Matasuentha], whom the
efforts of all your men should have brought to her kingdom, so that
every race might appreciate the return of favour you rendered to such
a daughter.

3. This fact, moreover, should influence you: by a marvellous
design, God made us acquainted with each other before reaching the
summit of rule, thus giving a motive for love to those on whom He had
bestowed the pleasure of that sight. For with what reverence can I
honour the prince whom I admired while still placed in a private
station? But, even now, you can heal all that has been done, since it is
easy to keep the affection of one who is evidently and sincerely seeking
your favour.

4. And therefore, greeting your clemency with due honour, I
inform you that I have sent X and Y as envoys to the wisdom of your
serenity. Thus, after your habit, you may give thought to all things, so
that either commonwealth may endure in harmony restored. Thus, too,
what was established and praised under previous princes may, by God s
help, be increased all the more in your reign. But the rest I have
entrusted to the aforementioned envoys to be delivered by word of
mouth, so that the brevity of a letter may touch on some matters, while
those who report to you will advise you more fully of my case.

[Krautschick (95) connects this letter with the embassy sent to Justinian when it became
clear that the siege of Belisarius in Rome was failing (Procopius, Wars VI.vi~vii.15). Was
Cassiodorus was the ‘Roman distinguished among the Goths’ (VI,vi,3) who negotiated
an armistice before the embassy departed?]

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XI. 1 [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT, TO
THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME (date as IX.24)

1. You commend my promotion to me, fathers of the Senate, by my
knowledge that you prayed for it: for I believe that an event assuredly
desired by so many men of good fortune must have been highly
propitious. Indeed, your wishes clearly inaugurate all good things, since
no one can be honoured by such as you unless Providence has ordained
his advancement. Receive my thanks, then, in return, even as you
require my dutiful obedience. It is natural to love a colleague. In fact,
it is your own glory that you extoll, if you exalt the honour given to a
Senator [Cassiodorus]. 2. Anxiety for the senators drives me urgently
into public service: thus, when I have earned approval by such
assistance, it may be ascribed instead to your glory. Next to the princes
[Athalaric and Amalasuintha], it is my concern to commend myself to
you, for I trust that you love what I know the lords of the state also
command. The first command is that I should think honesty the best
policy; that justice should always accompany and wait on my acts; and
that I should not disgrace and prostitute a post which I obtained
unpurchased from an upright prince,

3. You have heard my praise, princely gentlemen, and the weight
of the affairs which I have taken on. 1 An eulogised entry on high
office makes demands beyond one’s strength. I do not dare to give
these words the lie, but I admit their too powerful influence: for such
judgements have not discovered my merits, but created them. Neither
do I boast myself of them, understanding that our lords wished to exalt
the lowly: they must not seem to have conferred such powers on the
unworthy. The blessings of a famous reign are whirling me away, and
inviting a man thirsty, as it were, with long drought to take a drink of
sweetest savour.

4. O blessed fortune of the age! The king is on holiday, and his
mother’s affection holds rule; thereby, she so acts in everything that we
may feel the protection of a universal love. He to whom all things are

1 This alludes to IX.25.

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subject accords this lady a glorious obedience. With wonderful restraint
and harmony, he now begins to command his own character before he
can rule the people. This is truly the hardest kind of rule, for a young
man to bear sway over his own senses. It is the rarest of blessings
when a king triumphs in character, and reaches in the prime of life
what grey-haired restraint can hardly attain. 2 5. Let us rejoice, fathers
of the Senate, and give thanks to the majesty of heaven with prayerful
devotion; for, as time moves on, no act of clemency will be difficult
for our king, who has learned as a boy to be the servant of piety.

But we must ascribe this wonder to the characters of them both; for
such is his mother's genius, whom even a foreign prince should
rightfully obey. 6. For every realm most properly reveres her. To
behold her inspires awe; to hear her discourse, wonder. In what tongue
is not her learning proven? She is fluent in the splendour of Greek
oratory; she shines in the glory of Roman eloquence; the flow of her
ancestral speech brings her glory; she surpasses all in their own
languages, and is equally wonderful in each. For if it is the part of a
man of sense to be well acquainted with his native tongue, how should
we value the wisdom which retains and faultlessly practises so many
kinds of eloquence? 7. Hence, the different races have a great and
necessary safeguard, since no one needs an interpreter when addressing
the ears of our wise mistress. For the envoy suffers no delay, and the
appellant no damage from the slowness of his translator, since each is
heard in his own words, and is answered in the speech of his nation.
To this is added, as it were a glorious diadem, the priceless knowledge
of literature, through which she learns the wisdom of the ancients, and
the royal dignity is constantly increased. 8. But, although she rejoices
in such linguistic perfection, she is so silent in public business that you
would think her indolent. She unties the knots of litigation by a few
words; she quietly calms heated conflicts; she acts in silence for the
public good. You do not hear proclaimed the measures which are

2 Procopius (Wars V.ii) shows Athalaric as a drunken lecher, resisting his mother’s
discipline. Cassiodorus probably draws deliberate attention to this by describing the
opposing qualities.

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openly adopted; and, with wonderful restraint, she transacts by stealth
what she knows must be done in haste.

9. Has revered antiquity achieved the like? There is Placidia, with
a famous reputation in the world: we have learnt that she was glorious
for her descent from various emperors, and cared for her imperial son.
But we know that the empire she slackly ruled for him was shamefully
diminished. Eventually, she purchased a daughter-in-law by the loss of
Illyricum: rulers were united, but the provinces lamentably divided. 3
Moreover, she weakened the soldiery by too much peace. Protected by
his mother, he endured what he • could scarcely have suffered if
abandoned. 10. But under this queen, all whose kindred is royal, with
God’s help our army will terrify foreign powers. By prudent and nicely
calculated policy, it is neither worn down by continual fighting, nor,
again, is it enervated by prolonged peace.

Moreover, at the very outset of the reign, when a new regime
always attracts danger, she made the Danube a Roman river against the
will of the eastern prince [the emperor]. 11. The sufferings of the
invaders are well known: in my judgement, they should be passed over,
lest the spirit of an allied prince should bear a loser’s shame. 4 For his
opinion of our lands may be understood from the fact that, despite his
injury, he granted us a peace which he refused to the prayers of others.
Then, too, he has honoured us with many embassies, although we
seldom approached him; and that outstanding power has bowed down
the awe-inspiring glory of the East that it might elevate the lords of
Italy. 5

12. Again, there are the Franks, of great power from so many

3 Galla Placidia, daughter of Theodosius I, ruled the western empire for her son
Valentinian III, from 425 to 437; he married Licinia Eudoxia, daughter of the eastern
emperor Theodosius H in 437. The marriage was purchased with part of the Diocese of
niyricum, including areas later controlled by Theoderic and Athalaric.

4 This otherwise unattested incident probably occurred under Justin, but Justinian will
have been responsible; barbarian tribes, rather than imperial troops, may have been used.

5 This suggests that Justinian angled diplomatically for control of the Gothic kingdom
during much of Athalaric’s reign; the lack of response may have been due less to
Amalasuintha than to her enemies among the tribal nobility; cf. Procopius, Wars V.ii.

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victories over barbarians: how vast was the expedition that dismayed
them! When attacked, they feared to join battle with our troops,
although they constantly carry war to other tribes in sudden assault.
But, though this proud nation declined the conflict, they could not avoid
the death of their own king. For their Theoderic, who had long gloried
in a mighty name, was conquered by sickness, rather than battle, and
died to the triumph of our princes. This, I believe, was ordained by
God, lest war with our kindred should defile us, or a justly mobilised
army should not enjoy some vengeance. Hail to you, army of the
Goths, of happiest fortune! You have slain a royal enemy without
costing us the death of the meanest soldier. 6

13. Indeed, the Burgundian also, to regain his own, has become a
loyal subject; he has surrendered himself wholly, to recover a small
territory. In fact, he has chosen to obey us uninjured, rather than to
resist with his land diminished; when he laid down his arms, then he
defended his realm more securely. For what he lost in battle, he has
regained by petition. Blessed are you, mistress, rich in praise; one from
whom God’s favour removes all need for war, since you either subdue
the enemies of the state by heavenly fortune, or join them to your sway
by spontaneous generosity. 14. Rejoice, Goths and Romans alike: this
marvel is worthy of all men’s praise. Behold, by God’s favour, our
fortunate mistress has achieved the glory of either sex: for she has both
borne us a glorious king, and has secured a spreading empire by the
courage of her soul.

15. At all events, her praises have been recounted, so far as they
relate to war; for, should I wish to enter the halls of her devotion, ‘a
hundred tongues and a hundred mouths’ [Vergil, Aeneid VI.625] would
hardly suffice me: her justice and goodwill are equal, but her kindness
is a greater thing than her power. Let me then say small things about
great matters, a few words about many. You know how many
blessings, with her heavenly kindness, she has bestowed on our order:

6 Theoderic I, son of Clovis, was king of the eastern Franks from 511 to 533; in 531 he
had defeated the Thuringi, whose queen Amalaberga was a cousin of Amalasuintha
(IV.l); his wife was Amalasuintha’s niece.

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there can be no doubt, where the Senate bears witness. She has restored
the afflicted to a better state; 7 and she has exalted with honours the
uninjured of whom she is the general protector, and bestowed goods on
each of them.

16. Already the benefits I proclaim have increased. For consider the
Patrician Liberius, also Prefect of Gaul, a man of military experience,
charming for his courtesy, distinguished by his merits, good to look on,
but made still more handsome by his scars. He has obtained the reward
of his labours, so that he does not lose the Prefecture he wielded so
well, but, as a great man, is adorned by a twofold honour. One honour
only does not suffice for his reward, but the pair proclaim his deserts.
For he also receives the office of Patrician-in-Waiting [patricius
praesentails], lest one who has deserved well of the state should be
thought unwelcome through his long absence. 17. O wonderful kindness
of our lords, which has so far exalted the aforementioned man that,
after conferring high office, it also sees fit to extend his patrimony.
This has been as gratefully received by the public as if all men thought
themselves enriched, in fact, by the gift made to him; for whatever is
bestowed on one worthy man is felt unquestionably to be conferred on
many. 8

Why, then, should I mention her firmness of mind, which surpasses
even the most famous philosophers? From the queen’s mouth issue
words of goodwill, and promises that can be trusted, 18. The things I
speak of, fathers of the Senate, have not been untested by me; the
praise of the experienced is a truthful witness. For you know what
wishes fought against me: neither gold, nor powerful pleas could
prevail. All things were tried, that the glorious constancy of our wise
queen might be tested.

19. The form of the declamation demands that I should compare the

7 This may refer to her restoration of confiscated property to the family of Boethius and
Symmachus (Procopius, Wars V.ii.5).

* On Liberius, see 11.16; he was later to enter the service of Justinian in anger at
Amalasuintha’s murder; from this passage, it is tempting to give him some share in her
purge of her Gothic enemies, and to link him politically with Cassiodorus.

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parade of past empresses with her recent case. But how could these
feminine examples suffice for one who surpasses all the praise given to
men? If the royal band of her ancestors were to look on this woman,
they would soon see their glory reflected, as in a clear mirror. For
Amalus was distinguished for his good fortune, Ostrogotha for his
patience, Athala for mercy, Winitarius for justice, Unimundus for
beauty, Thorismuth for chastity, Walamer for good faith, Theudimer
for his sense of duty, her glorious father, as you have seen, for his
wisdom. 9 Assuredly, all these would here individually recognise their
own qualities; but they would happily admit that these were surpassed,
since one man’s glory cannot rightly equate itself with a throng of
virtues. 20. Think what their joy would be in such an heir, one who
can transcend the merits of them all.

Perhaps you request separate treatment for the good qualities of the
king; but he who praises the parent extols the child abundantly. Then,
you should recall the remarkable words of the eloquent Symmachus: 10
"Expecting cheerfully his growth in virtue, I put off praising his
beginnings.’ Assist me, fathers of the Senate; and, by giving thanks for
me to our common lords, discharge my debt with your repayment: for,
as one man is powerless to satisfy the wishes of all, so many can fulfill
the requirements of one.

XI.2 [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT, TO
POPE JOHN [II] (date as IX.24)

1. I must beseech you, most blessed Father, that the joy which, by
God’s generosity, I have obtained through you, I may know to be
preserved for me by your prayers. For who could doubt that my good
fortune must be ascribed to your merits, since I, who do not deserve
God’s love, have attained to honour, and, by a reversal of obligation,

9 On these ancestors, see Jordanes, Getica , 79-81, 199f., probably deriving from
Cassiodorus’ Gothic History .

m Probably the elder Symmachus, Consul 391.

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have received good things, although I did not perform the like? For by
the fasting of churchmen, famine is banished from the people; by their
seemly tears, ugly grief departs; and holy men hurry away troubles that
might otherwise be prolonged.

2. And therefore, greeting you with proper dutifulness, I beg you
to pray earnestly for the welfare of our rulers, so that the Prince of
Heaven may give them long life, diminish the enemies of the Roman
state, and grant us quiet times. May He also adorn our peace by
bestowing on us from the granaries of His abundance the food we need.
And for me, your son, may He open up the spirit of understanding,
that I may pursue those things that are truly profitable, and avoid those
that should be shunned. 3. May that rational force of the soul give me
counsel; may the face of truth grow bright, lest the body’s darkness
overcloud my mind; may I follow what is within me, lest I become a
stranger to myself; may that which is wise with the true wisdom
instruct me; may that which shines with the light of heaven illumine
me. In short, may public affairs find me such a magistrate as the
Catholic Church should send out as her son. May holy virtue guard me
even among her gifts, since when I receive her favours, I then endure
the deadlier wiles of the ancient adversary [Satan].

4. Do not hand over to me alone the care of that city which, in fact,
is safe by your excellence. For you preside as a sentinel over the
Christian people; with a father’s name, you love all men. The safety of
the people, therefore, redounds to your fame, to whom God has
entrusted their protection. Hence, I must think on some things, but you
on all. For you give spiritual food to the flock entrusted to you, but
you cannot neglect what supports the substance of the body. For, as
man consists of two natures, so it is the part of a good father to cherish
them both. First, by your holy prayers, avert the bad seasons that our
sins deserve. But if any such should occur - and may they never -
dearth is effectively banished when planned against in time of plenty.
5. Advise me of the duties I should perform with care. Even under
your rebuke, I wish to do right, since it is harder for the sheep to stray
which hopes to hear the shepherd’s voice; nor is a man easily corrupted
when under pressure from a constant censor. I am indeed a palatine
judge, but I will not cease to be your disciple; for my actions will then

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be correct if I keep closely to your principles. But, since I wish to be
both advised by your counsels and assisted by your prayers, it must
now be ascribed to you if anything undesirable is found in me.

6. May that see, a marvel throughout the globe, cover its own
congregation with a love which, although it is bestowed universally on
the whole world, is also locally allotted to us. We possess something
special of the holy Apostles [Peter and Paul], if it is not estranged and
severed from us by our sins. For happy Rome has attained to holding
in her breast those burial places that all Christians long to see. 7.
Therefore, with such patrons we fear nothing, if the bishop’s prayers
are not lacking. It is, indeed, a hard task to satisfy the wants of so
many; but the Deity knows how to give great gifts. May he subdue the
envious, form for us citizens of loveable character in their hopes of
Heaven, and bestow on your prayers such times as proclaim the
indulgence of divine favour.

XI. 13 THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME TO THE
EMPEROR JUSTINIAN (date as X.20)

1. It seems a most honourable and necessary undertaking to appeal
to a dutiful prince for the safety of the Roman state, since it is proper
to request from you what may assist our freedom. For, to the other
blessings that Providence has especially bestowed on you, nothing more
glorious is added than your knowledge that you can confer benefits in
every place.

We beseech you therefore, most merciful emperor, stretching out
both hands from the lap of the Senate, to bestow on our king
[Theodahad] your most enduring peace. Do not let us, who have always
seemed welcome to your friendship, become your enemies. 2. If you
grant your kindness to our lords, you are, in fact, commending the
Roman name. Your favour raises and protects us, and we know your
feelings are deserved. Let your treaty, therefore, establish the peace of
Italy, for if the bond of love we prayed for is tied by you, then we will
be cherished.

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Should our pleas still seem insufficient in this matter, imagine that
our country breaks out into these pleadings: 3. ‘If I was ever esteemed
by you, most devoted of princes, love my defenders. Those who rule
me should be at one with you, lest they begin to do such deeds against
me as they know to differ from your wishes. Do not be the cause of
my cruel death, you who have always bestowed on me the joys of life.
Look how my children have increased under your peace, how I shine
in the glory of my citizens. If you allow me to be injured, where will
you now display your name for devotion? My religion, which is your
own, is known to be flourishing; why then do you try to do more for
me? My Senate grows in honours; its wealth is constantly increased. 4.
Do not waste through enmity what you should defend in war. I have
had many kings, but none of such education; I have had many wise
men, but none of such might in learning and piety. I love the Amal
who has sucked at my breasts, the brave man formed by my society,
dear to the Romans for his wisdom, revered for his courage by the
tribes. No, no: join your wishes to his, share counsels with him, that
any increase in my prosperity may redound to your glory. Do not seek
me in such a way that you will not find me. I am no less yours in love,
if you cause no-one to tear my limbs. 5. For, if Africa deserved to
receive her freedom through you, it is cruel for me to lose a freedom
which I have always been seen to possess. Greatest of victors, control
the impulses of your anger. The general petition carries more weight
than the conquest of your soul by the assault of some ill will.’ 11

6. These are the words of Rome, as she supplicates you through her
senators. But, if this is of small force, you should think on the most
holy petition of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. For your princely
power should grant anything to the merits of those who have often
defended Rome against her enemies. But, that all things may seem
fitting to your reverence, we have decided to submit our pleas through
the venerable bishop X, sent to your clemency as the envoy of our

11 This first person appeal has precedents in Cicero (Against Catiline 1.18, 27-9), but may
be modelled on Ennodius, 80.157-63 (Life of Epiphanius). Imperial forces had
reconquered parts of Africa from the Vandals in 533-4.

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most pious king: thus, those who might win single favours from pious
souls, should now achieve many aims.

[The Senate may have sent this appeal under threat of massacre; cf. Bury, n, 168.]

XI. 14 [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT, TO
GAUDIOSUS, CANCELLARIUS IN THE PROVINCE OF
LIGURIA (a.533-7)

1. Since many roads make for the city of Como, its land-owners
report that they are so exhausted from the constant provision of extra
post-horses, that they are in fact trampled down by the passage of too
many steeds. By royal indulgence, I command that favour shall always
be maintained towards them, lest that city, attractively habitable from
its location, should grow depopulated through the frequency of the
damage. 12

For, behind the distant mountains and the vast expanse of the clear
lake, it is a kind of wall for the Ligurian plain. Although it is evidently
a key defence of the province, such is its beauty that it seems to be
formed for pleasure alone. 2. To its rear, it supplies cultivated levels,
both suited for the amenity of riding, and fit for a generous supply of
food. To its front, it enjoys the amenity of sixty miles of sweet water,
so that the spirit is gratified with refreshment and delight, while no
storms drive away the supply of fish. Rightly, therefore, it has received
the name of Como, rejoicing in the gifts that make it comely.

Here the lake is indeed enfolded in the depth of a very great valley;
exquisitely imitating the shape of a shell, it is picked out with white on
its foamy shores. 3. Around it the beautiful peaks of lofty mountains
are gathered like a crown; its coasts are exquisitely adorned by great
and gleaming villas, and are enclosed as though by a belt with the
perennial greenery of a forest of olives. Above this, leafy vines climb

12 Cassiodorus failed to show how the postal burdens were to be relieved! Were breves
attached to give the detail? It may have been specified in the petition from Como.

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the mountain sides. But the summit itself, curled, so to speak, with
thick hair of chestnut-trees, is painted by adorning nature. Thence
torrents that shine with snowy whiteness are hurled downwards by the
height, and fall to the levels of the lake. 4. Into its bays, the river
Addua flows from the south, and is received with open jaws. It is so
named for this reason: because, fed from a double source, it flows
down as though into a sea of its own. Such is the speed with which it
enters the waves of the vast expanse that, keeping its name and colour,
it is poured northward in a swollen bellied stream. 13 You would think
that a darker line had been drawn across the pale waters; and the
discoloured character of the influx, which is supposed to mingle with
a liquid like itself, is strangely visible. 5. This also happens even to the
waves of the sea, when rivers flood in. But the reason is very obvious,
since headlong torrents, polluted with mud and filth, differ in colour
from the glass-clear sea. But this will be rightly thought a natural
wonder, when you see a sluggish lake traversed with great speed by an
element like it in so many qualities. You would suppose the river was
flowing over solid ground when you see it unable to mix in colour with
the alien waters. 14

6. And so, the inhabitants of these places should rightly be spared,
since everything beautiful is too tender for toil, and those who
habitually enjoy sweet delights easily feel the burden of affliction. Let
them therefore enjoy a royal and perpetual gift, that, as they are happy
in their native luxuries, so the prince’s generosity may give them joy.

[With this letter, compare XII. 15. Ennodius, 10 (Ep. 1.6), shows that an earlier Quaestor

l) Cassiodorus etymologises the name as a duobus , ‘from two,’ - the two rivers Mera and
Addua enter the lake very close together. The Addua in fact flows through the lake from
north to south!

14 This account of the Addua seems to use and echo Ammianus Marcellinus* description
(XV.4.3-6) of the Rhine flowing through Lake Constance - important evidence for sixth
century knowledge of the greatest historian of the late empire among the senatorial class
which had snubbed him in his own life-time. (On possible use of Ammianus by
Cassiodorus in the Gothic History , see Heather, 110-18.)

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and Praetorian Prefect, Faustus Niger, wrote an eulogy of the Como region; certain
themes - fish, olive groves, great villas, the flow of the rivers through the lake - reappear
in XL14. Was Cassiodorus consciously rivalling his predecessor? He may also be
replying to Ennodius’ humorous claims that the amenities of Como were disastrous: while
struggling to maintain their ancestral stately homes, its landowners attracted the attentions
of the tax-assessor.]

XI. 16 [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT, TO
THE LIGURIANS (a.533-7)

1. It is my duty to support with zeal those whom the royal pity has
decided to assist, for those on whom the clemency of our rulers has
descended should also use their own magistracies to provide for the
subjects. You have recently thanked me for giving you a hope of good
things, rather than any fruition. By receiving my promises with great
joy, you have encouraged me to confer benefits. I have discharged the
vow of a magistrate under an obligation. Former promises are now
demonstrably fulfilled.

2. Let me, then, make a start with the scales, since the discourse of
a magistrate should begin at that point where it is right to apply one’s
conscience. Hence it is that you report yourselves to be oppressed in
the matter of weights and measures. And therefore, my care will
provide that no man’s evil doing shall trouble you further from that
quarter, since I think it a heavy crime either for measures to exceed the
mode, or for scales to lack the justice of an equitable weight. 3.
Moreover, as to the civil servants of my office and the civic tax
collectors [exactores and susceptores] , who have, you complain,
inflicted heavy losses on you, I have commanded them to be
summoned, that they may clarify their accounts, and pay off without
delay any fraud that may be found in them. For this, I declare, is at
odds with my time of office, that one man should rejoice in another’s
loss.

iS Official scales and weights were used by collectors to weigh coins and produce; for
abuses, cf., e.g., C.Th. XII.16.19,21, Majorian, Novel 7.14-15,

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4. Now turn your purpose to the supply of the most flourishing
army, and procure everything without any complaint or delay. For you
effectively constrain me to every act of kindness if you readily carry
out your orders. He on whom the common cause enjoins action should
obey with joy. Only those losses should cause pain which have clearly
been inflicted by greed. For that which is commanded by necessity
gives no trouble to the spirit of the wise.

[The Prefect sees just and efficient administration under the old Roman convention of
exchange of services (beneftcium and ojfictum ) between patron and client.]

XI.36 [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT, TO
ANATOLICUS, CANCELLARIUS IN THE PROVINCE OF
SAMNIUM (a.534, late)

1. He who invented laborious services and duties demanding great
pains, also, and with reason, appointed time limits, so that the reward
established for old age should have no uncertainty. Otherwise, who
could be for ever watchful 16 and capable when the very light is
withdrawing itself from mortal men? Hence, in this uncertain life, state
service is certain, and he who has deservedly reached the appointed
time without transgression has nothing to fear.

2. The stars themselves, as the astronomers will have it, although
they circle and return without cease, keep the set times of their courses.
Bodies kept within their own bounds cannot be unpredictable. Saturn
travels his appointed space of the heavens in thirty years. The planet of
Jove illuminates the region given him in twelve years. The star of
Mars, swept onwards by fiery haste, races through its assigned course
in eighteen months. The sun flies through the signs of the zodiacal belt
in the space of a year. The star of Venus crosses its allotted space in
fifteen months. Mercury, girt with speed, courses the distance fixed for
him in thirteen months. The moon, closer to us, and peculiarly our

16 I prefer the MSS’ spectare , retained by Fridh, to Mommsen’s expectare.

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neighbour, travels in thirty days what the orbiting and golden sun
completes in the space of a year. 3. It is right, then, that mortals
should find an end to toil, since, as the philosophers tell us, even those
bodies that can perish only with the world have received, and with
reason, limits to their course. There is, though, this difference: they
finish their task to return to the beginning, but the human race so
serves that, once its labours are completed, it may find rest.

4. And therefore, to X, who has blamelessly discharged the office
of cornicularius y you are to hand over without question the 700 solidi
assigned to him by ancient custom, drawing them from the third tax
installment of the province of Samnium in the nth indiction: he who has
been honestly vindicated and commended by his minister can suffer no
doubt over his reward. For he managed the judicial bench [cornua] of
the praetorian bureau, whence his title is derived; 17 he was approved,
and his actions were praised. With his assistance, I used without
corruption the official inkstand, which men hoped to fill with vast
bribes: 18 I obliged those whom the law favoured; I denied those to
whom justice made no promise. 5. No one owed sorrow to legal
victory; for he procured it with his property intact, since he did not
purchase his superiority. You 19 know all that I am saying, for your
secretarial work was not transacted in my privy chambers; what I did
the staff knew. No wonder I showed myself a private person in doing
harm, but a minister in doing good. My rigour was confined to words;
my kindness was felt in my deeds. I became angry in mercy, I
threatened without injury, and was seen to cause terror that I might

17 In fact, the comicularius was originally a military clerk, owing his name to the
soldier's decoration comiculum; John Lydus, De Mag. IU.3, is better informed. The title
was now given to the senior official on the judicial staff of a provincial governor, and of
the Urban and Praetorian Prefects.

11 Stands for pens and ink are sometimes depicted on consular diptychs, and in the Notitia
Dignitatum among official insignia, including the Praetorian Prefect's; made from gold
and silver, they clearly had symbolic value; cf. De Mag. 11.14.

19 Cassiodorus abruptly shifts from an address to the cancellarius to one to the retiring
comicularius^ showing his hasty compilation. Similarly, he has not consistently
eliminated personal and temporal details.

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inflict no hurt. As you used to say, you have a minister of great
integrity; I will leave you as my most upright witness.

XL38 [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT, TO
JOHN, CANONICARIUS OF TUSCIA (a.534-5)

1. Antiquity, which ordered all things, took careful thought that
there should be no deficiency in the supply of paper, since great
numbers have to consult our secretariat [scrinia]. Thus, when judges
give rulings that will be of use to many, their sweet services will suffer
no hateful delays. This benefit is granted to petitioners: that they shall
not be forced from avarice to pay a fee for things which are known to
be supplied by the liberality of the state. The opportunity for a most
impudent piece of extortion is removed: those for whom the prince’s
humanity has made a grant, it has especially exempted from loss. 30

2. The ingenuity of Memphis conceived a product of evident
beauty: what the work of one place has elegantly woven has clothed
every secretariat. On the Nile there rises a forest without branches, a
grove without leaves, a reed-bed in the waters, a beautiful head of hair
for the marshes. It is more flexible than saplings, stiffer than grass,
filled with a kind of hollowness, and hollow by its fullness, an
absorbent softness, a spongy wood, whose strength, like an apple’s, is
in its rind. Its pith is soft, it is tall and slender, but it stands of itself,
the lovely fruit of a filthy flood.

3. For does a crop grow in any field to equal this, on which the
thoughts of the wise are preserved? For previously, the sayings of the
wise and the ideas of our ancestors were in danger. For how could you
quickly record words which the resistant hardness of bark made it
almost impossible to set down? No wonder that the heat of the mind

20 This practice had recently ceased in the Praetorian Prefecture of the East, according
to John Lydus (IU. 14). The state no longer financed the purchase of high quality papyrus;
instead, successful litigants had to pay a small fee to be issued with documents badly
written on the worst material.

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suffered pointless delays, and genius was forced to cool as its words
were retarded. 4. Hence, antiquity gave the name of liber to the books
of the ancients; for even today we call the bark of green wood liber .
It was, I admit, unfitting to entrust learned discourse to these
unsmoothed tablets, and to imprint the achievements of elegant feeling
on bits of sluggish wood. When hands were checked, few men were
impelled to write; and no one to whom such a page was offered was
induced to say much. But this was appropriate to early times, when it
was right for a crude beginning to use such a device, to encourage the
ingenuity of posterity. The tempting beauty of paper is amply adorned
by compositions 21 where there is no fear that the writing material may
be withheld. 5. For it opens a field for the elegant with its white
surface; its help is always plentiful; and it is so pliant that it can be
rolled together, although it is unfolded to a great length. Its joints are
seamless, its parts united; it is the snowy pith of a green plant, a
writing surface which takes black ink for its ornament; on it, with
letters exalted, the flourishing corn-field of words yields the sweetest
of harvests to the mind, as often as it meets the reader’s wish. It keeps
a faithful witness of human deeds; it speaks of the past, and is the
enemy of oblivion. 6. For, even if our memory retains the content, it
alters the words; but there discourse is stored in safety, to be heard for
ever with consistency.

Therefore, I command you to pay to X the deputy assistant
[subadiuva] 22 the assigned sum of y solidi from the third instalment
of the tax revenue of the province of Tuscia, to be entered on the
accounts of the thirteenth indiction [534-5]. Thus, the public secretariat
may maintain its faithful integrity in laudable perpetuity. The secretariat
does not know the weakness of mortality; it grows by annual
accumulation, constantly receiving the new and preserving the old.

21 The MSS read invitatrix pulchritudo chartarum qffluenter dicitur ... Mommsen
conjectures qffluenter exhibitarum iure dicitur ; Fridh (1968, 89f.) qffluenter describitur,
or qffluenter dictione describitur f 1 follow the last.

22 illi subadiuvae : Fridh, with most MSS, omits subadiuvae; but cf. XI.37.4, ill!
primiscrinio.

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XI.39 [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT,

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE VITALIANUS,
CANCELLARIUS IN LUCANIA-AND-BRUTTIUM
(a.533-5)

1, It is evident how great was the population of the city of Rome,
seeing that it was fed by supplies furnished even from far off regions,
and that this imported abundance was reserved for it, while the
surrounding provinces sufficed to feed only the resident strangers.
Never 23 could a people that ruled the world be small in number. 2.
For the vast extent of the walls bears witness to the throngs of citizens,
as do the swollen capacity of the buildings of entertainment, the
wonderful size of the baths, and that great number of water-mills which
was clearly provided especially for the food supply. For, if this last
equipment had not been of practical use, it would not have been
thought necessary, as it serves neither the beauty of Rome, nor
anything else. In short, these things are tokens of their cities, as
precious clothing is of bodies, since no-one rests in devising the
luxuries whose great cost he can display.

3. Hence, then, it came about that mountainous Lucania provided
pigs, hence that Bruttium furnished herds of beef cattle from its native
abundance. Surely both these facts are marvellous, that such provinces
should suffice for such a city, and that so large a city should have no
shortage of victuals through their services. It was, indeed, their glory
to feed Rome; but the cost of their ability to persevere in supplying
levies by weight through so many journeys was evident, since no-one
could calculate the obvious decrease! 4. The weight was converted to
its monetary value, in which they could suffer no loss, since it is
neither diminished by journeys, nor injured by fatigue. The provinces
should appreciate their blessings. For if their ancestors loyally payed
out to their own loss, why should they not be generous in paying out

23 Fridh conjecturally emends nam quam to numquant.

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their profits? 24

And therefore, your diligence will procure both levies, now
converted into public taxes, by the statutory instalments, so that those
who have obeyed ministers of alien origin with commendable honesty
may not appear neglectful in my period of office. 5. For, although I
have taken care to revive other provinces too, still, nothing has been
done in them that I would wish to claim as my own. The people [of
Lucania-and-Bruttium] have known me as their governor, and those
whom, by the custom of my ancestors, I helped when a private person,
I strove vigorously to benefit when in office. Thus, those whose great
and ready joy at my promotion I experienced, saw that I kept my
affection for my own country. They should obey, therefore, not from
any compulsion, but from love, since I have reduced for them this sum
that was usually paid. For, although 1200 solid! were previously
delivered annually, through the royal generosity I have reduced them
to 1000, so that men may rejoice, their happiness increased by the
decrease of their burdens.

24 Pigs (presumably beef cattle too) lost weight in the journey to Rome, becoming the sort
‘that climbs Matterhoms and wins the annual Stock Exchange walk from London to
Brighton’ (P.G. Wodehouse). The drovers’ and butchers’ guild was compensated by the
land-owners on whom the pigs were levied, to make good this short-fall in meat;
land-owners also suffered from general transportation costs. Cash commutation
( adaeratio ) apparently improved the situation -- pigs were now purchased from the taxes
of the province concerned; it may have stimulated the market in pork, and the provincial
economy; hence, perhaps, Cassiodorus’ allusion to profits now made. Cf. C.77t.
XIV.4.4., Valentinian III, Novel 36; Jones, 1964, 702ff., Bamish, 1987. esp. 166fT.

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XH.5 [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT, TO
THE DISTINGUISHED VALERI ANUS 1 (a.535-6, probably
536, before July)

1. Certainly, a magistrate of highest rank should spread his
favours widely, since he who is known as everyone’s governor is
expected to distribute his benefits to all. But, by nature’s gift, we owe
the more to those who are joined to us by some relationship, it seems
a kind of right principle to depart from the practice of equality. 2. For
we show modesty to our companions, to our fathers we give reverence,
to our fellow citizens we owe a general liking, but a special love to our
children; and such is the force of family ties that no-one will think
himself insulted if he realises that another’s offspring have been
preferred to him. And therefore, there is nothing unjust in being
specially concerned for one’s native land, above all at that time when
we may be seen to assist it in its peril. For those whom we hurry to
rescue, we are supposed to love especially.

3. Now, a large army has arrived, known to be assigned to the
defence of the state, and is reported to have ravaged the fields of
Lucania and Bruttium, and to have lessened the wealth of those regions
by enthusiastic robbery. But since some must give and others take
according to the need of the times, know that, by royal order, the
prices established long ago have been modified: supplies will be
credited to the public tax-accounts at a much higher price than you
were wont to sell at, so that the landowner will bear no loss, and the
army, in its labours, will feel no shortage. 4. So, do not be troubled.
You have escaped the hands of the collectors, as this provision has
removed your taxes. 2 But, for your easier information, I have seen fit
to give figures for the credits in the schedules [breves] recorded below,
so that no-one may sell you a benefit that you know has been bestowed
on you by the state’s generosity.

1 Probably the governor of Lucania-and-Bruttium.

2 Supplies seized by the army would be valued in cash (above the market rate), and
regarded as tax already paid.

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Restrain, therefore, the reckless tumult of the landowners. Let
them love tranquillity, since no one is driving them into danger. While
the Gothic army wages war, let the Roman be at peace. What is
enjoined on you is the aim of the fortunate: it is to prevent the savage
race of countrymen from being carried away by lawless ventures when
they escape the routine of their work, and those whom you can barely
control in peacetime from starting to rebel against you. 5. Therefore,
by royal command, you are to admonish the individual tenants of the
great estates, and the powerful landowners, that they are to arouse no
savagery in this conflict, lest they should be hastening less to help in
the war than to disturb the peace. Let them draw the steel, but steel to
till the fields; let the spears they use be ox-goads, not the goads of
warlike rage. It will be the greatest glory of the defenders if, while
they guard the regions mentioned, the civilians continue to cultivate the
lands of their own country.

6. Let the magistrates gain strength from the laws; the judicial
bench must not cease to thunder out the laws against the wicked. The
robber must fear the judgement which has always terrified him; the
adulterer must shudder at the judge's heart; the forger must tremble at
the voice of the court-usher; the thief must not laugh at the forum. For
freedom rejoices only when such things give them no pleasure. Thus,
then, if you are taking common council about social order [civilitas ],
you will not feel the war that is being successfully waged. Let no-one
oppress the poor: seize those who seize men’s land, hunt down other
men’s hunters. A citizens’ war is your duty. If you restrain the leaders
of crime, you will create a general peace. Take care, too, in crediting
the military supplies, lest anyone should be defrauded by some man’s
cunning.

7. You must know, moreover, that our rulers have charged the
commanders of the army, through my authority, that, when, of
necessity, they take instructions from you, it is to come to the help of
those who have suffered injury. Likewise, they should preserve
discipline, always the strongest weapon of an army. Moreover, by a
kind of generosity, the royal commands have added that not even the
estates of the divine house shall be excepted from the present levies,

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but, instead, everything decreed for the general good shall be borne in
common.

8. Now, therefore, take energetic action with your brethren, and,
with all care, provide what is needed, so that the production of this
lengthy document may prove of real benefit to our most noble
homeland. For even men of modest ability can govern what is at peace,
and administer their provinces according to custom; but ‘this is the
task, this the toil’ [Vergil, Aeneid VI. 129], to rule, instead, a province
that cannot control itself on its own. For the sailors 9 skill is idle in
calm weather, and does not give the expert his reputation without the
help of great danger. 9. You, then, have an opportunity to acquire the
name of a wise man, and, by God’s aid, to act with care, and earn
praise in every case.

However, I am certainly not commending my own people to you
beyond others, since what I hope will befall to my home, I wish to
happen to all. For, since I began to give thought to guarding the whole
public, my personal concern has slipped away. I do indeed desire what
is good for my people, but a common good, since it is highly unjust for
a magistrate to wish for himself something which the public cannot
experience.

[Cassiodorus’ values are interesting: he proudly declares, while eventually rejecting, the
special obligation owed by a minister to his home province.

Procopius (Wars V.viii,l-4) gives us a Byzantine view of events in the south: no
mention of civil disorder, merely a ready surrender On July to September, 536) by
misgoverned Romans and a Gothic general to the ‘liberating’ army; as it took three
months to reach Naples, resistance may have been ignored. For his part, Cassiodorus
does not mention outright treachery to the Goths.]

XIL8 [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT, TO
THE GOVERNOR OF THE PROVINCE OF LIGURIA
(a.533-7)

1. It seems a new kind of profit when petitioners gain, and their
benefactors feel no loss. For one man receives in such a way that the
other is not deprived; it is a donation without expense, a concession

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without loss; and a sum that cannot leave the ruler’s control is called
his generosity.

2. Hence, X reports that the finances of his properties located in
province Y, as described in the schedule [brevis] attached below, are
troubled by the unjust demands of the civic tax-collectors [ exactores ].
He asks that he should pay the dues straight to my treasurers, without
any detriment to the public purse. I, who am known to have no interest
in causing loss to anyone, willingly grant this, so long as the dues of
the fisc are properly satisfied, since unlawful actions block good
intentions.

3. Your distinction is to advise the town-councillors and collectors
of arrears [compulsores] of this, as also those whom you know to be
involved; and, from indiction y, to have the exaction removed from the
properties referred to under this condition: that if, before the first day
of month z, the sum owing is not paid to the treasurer, the official
exaction shall be carried out within the province. But not if he proves
by the treasurers’ receipts that his promise was fulfilled: then the
designated estates are to be freed from all harassment by the collectors
of arrears, since what a willing spirit offers without suspicion of
causing loss should be given special preference. For I welcome tax
collection without pressure from the collector of arrears, and a loyal
subject who does what a man under coercion could scarcely discharge.
But if only a willing land-owner would free me from inevitable delay,
and himself from loss by proper payments! For he who puts off paying
his dues makes a tax-enforcer necessary.

[This letter has been adapted to a formula, but the title still shows that it was written to
deal with a specific request. For the privilege granted, cf. 11,24.4.]

XEL12 CASSIODORUS SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT,

TO ANASTASIUS, GOVERNOR OF
LUCANIA-AND-BRUTTIUM (a.534-5)

1. When, by his favour, I was officially banqueting with the lord
of the state [probably Theodahad], the various provinces were being

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praised for their delicacies. The conversation running on as usual, we
came to the wines of Bruttium and the sweet cheese of Sila. Thanks to
the grass, the latter is made there with such natural flavour that you
would think its taste was of honey, though you can see it is unmixed
with any substance. There, under slight pressure, milk flows through
the teats from the udders; and when collected, by the gift of nature,
into other stomachs, so to speak, it does not drip and dribble, but pours
in by swift streams. A sweet and subtle odour of grass arises; the nose
recognises the cattle’s pasture, which, with its many scents, is felt to
breathe a fragrance like incense into the milk. 2. To this such
creaminess is added that you would think olive oil was mingled with its
flow - save that its snowy whiteness distinguishes it from the grass
green of the other. Then the over-joyed shepherd receives that
marvellous liquid in wide-mouthed jars. Mixed with rennet, it begins
to harden into something soft but solid. Shaped into a beautiful sphere,
it is placed, for a time, in an underground store, and yields the
long-lasting substance of cheese. You are to load this onto ships and
despatch it with all speed, that I may gratify the royal wish by this
small offering. 3

3. Furthermore, seek out the wine which the ancients, in their
wish to praise it, called the wine that takes the palm [ Palmatianum ],
not over-rough in its acidity, but of a welcome fullness. 4 For, although
it may be the most remote of Bruttian wines, by almost universal
consent it has the chief place. For there they find it equal to Gazan,
resembling Sabine, and remarkable for its fine bouquet. 4. But because
it has won itself this noble reputation, you must procure the most
refined of the variety, lest the wisdom of our ancestors should seem to
have bestowed the name in vain. For it is sweet and full-bodied, soft
and well-rounded, very well-structured, with a pungent nose, white and

3 Cassiodorus was perhaps making a present of goods from his province, but XII.4 shows
smilar supplies from Venetia procured by compulsory purchase.

4 I have followed Traube's reading (index, s.v. stipsis ) of non stipsi nimis asperum for
the MSS’ nos stipsim (sc. nominavimus ), asperum... XII.4.4 shows stipsis a property, not
a name of wine, perhaps related to the binding medicinal qualities referred to below.

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clear too, and has such a bouquet when rolled in the mouth 5 that it
deserves to be named from the palm. 5. It binds loosened bowels, dries
up suppurating wounds, and strengthens a weak chest. What an artfully
compounded medicine can hardly achieve, this wine bestows in its
natural and unblended state. Take care, though, to send the precise type
described above, since I, who remember it with patriotic accuracy,
cannot be deceived; for, at the moment, I have produced what was
wanted from my own cellars. But you will send at your peril wine
unlike that of which, as you know, I already have a sample.

XII. 13 AN EDICT [OF CASSIODORUS SENATOR, PRAETORIAN
PREFECT] (a.533-6)

1. The largesse bestowed by our lords should be secured by a
common effort, since what they clearly accomplished through divine
prompting must needs benefit all men. Indeed, the piety of princes
guards the whole empire; and, while they enjoy a fitting reward, the
limbs of the state are preserved in safety.

Now, long ago imperial decrees aided the holy churches in
Bruttium and Lucania with a certain tribute of gifts. But, since it is the
way of sacrilegious minds to sin even against the divine reverence, the
canonicarii have been subtracting a considerable part in the name of the
accountants [numerarii ], turning clerical property into laymen’s gain.
2. The accountants of my bureau have spumed, cursed, and hated this
deed, reporting that nothing which impious hands have embezzled by
such a crime has been paid in to them. What will you yet attempt,
utterly inhuman audacity, if you extend your thefts even where you
know you cannot possibly escape notice? To think that you may elude
mortal eyes, although it is a criminal, is not a baseless assumption. But
as for the man who expects to carry out what God will not observe,
how great is the blindness that condemns him! 3. But, lest similar
presumption should happen to commit further ravages, or repeated

3 Conjecturally, I read iactatum for ructatum.

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transgressions provoke the divine patience, I decree by this edict that
he who is involved any further in this fraud shall be deprived of his
official position, and shall lose the benefit of his own property. For he
who has extended his audacity even to the injury of God, should be
smitten by a heavy penalty.

Let the poor possess the gifts of their rulers; let those who have
no property own something. 4, Why should another’s wealth, founded
on royal generosity, be usurped? Its possession is the prince’s gift.
How can a subject dare to appropriate what he sees his lord’s humility
is offering to God? Moreover, not to give to such men is to take from
them; and rightly so, since he who can help the hungry kills them if he
does not feed them. We should be ashamed to steal from those to
whom we are commanded to give. The will to gain riches from a
beggar’s poverty surpasses all cruelty. We should love honest profits,
shudder at damnable gains. Hence, let no man dare to steal what might
lose him his acquisitions. He who acquires by withholding loses by his
increase; and, if he does not reject the moneys of the poor, he in fact
brings poverty on himself.

XII. 15 [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT,
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MAXIMUS,
CANCELLARIUS IN LUCANIA-AND-BRUTTIUM
(a.533-6)

1. It is reported that Squillace, the chief city of Bruttium, whose
founder, we read, was Ulysses, the bane of Troy, is being afflicted
beyond reason by the arrogant. Their exactions should not have been
made during my ministry, since injuries to the place force me to grieve
more deeply, as they obviously affect me with patriotic feeling.

That city is sited on the Adriatic gulf, and hangs from the hillside
like a bunch of grapes, not that it may swell with pride in the difficulty
of its ascent, but that it may gaze with delight on green meadows, and
the blue back of the sea. 2. It watches the sun’s birth in its very cradle,
where the coming day sends no light of dawn before it, but

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straightway, as it begins to rise, the flashing rays reveal its torch. It
gazes on the joys of Phoebus, and so shines there with his own pure
radiance that you would think it his true country, and the fame of
Rhodes surpassed. 6 It enjoys transparent light, and is blessed, too, with
temperate air, experiencing warm winters and cool summers; and life
is lived without gloom, where no bad weather is feared. Hence, men
are more large minded, since the temperate climate governs all things.
3, For indeed, a hot country makes men cunning and fickle; a cold
makes them sly and sluggish; it is only the temperate that sets human
nature in good order by its own quality. Thus it is that the ancients
called Athens the country of the wise; one which, pervaded by the
purity of its air, through a happy generosity predisposed the clearest
minds to the role of philosophy. For is it really the same thing for a
body to gulp down swamp-water as to drink at a sweet and translucent
spring? So, the burden of a heavy atmosphere weighs down the vigour
of the soul. For we are necessarily subjected to such a state when
clouds depress us; and, again, since it is the essence of the heavenly
soul to enjoy all that is pure and untainted, we naturally rejoice in
bright weather. 7

4. Squillace also enjoys plentiful and delicious sea-food, since it
has nearby the enclosed pools that I created. For at the foot of Mount
Moscius, I allowed an orderly inflow of the waves of Nereus [the sea]
to caves excavated in the rocks, where a shoal of fishes, playing freely
in captivity, both refreshes the delighted spirit, and pleases the
wondering eye. They rush greedily to the hand, and ask for titbits
before they become food themselves. A man feeds his own delicacies; 8
and, while he has their capture in his power, it often happens that he

6 The island of Rhodes was famous for its cult of the Sun-god, identified with Phoebus
Apollo.

7 quia caelestis animae substantia ad infecta et purissima quaeque laetatur - see Fridh,
1968, 93fT., on the translation of infecta , rejecting the lacuna supposed by Mommsen.
Cassiodorus might have praised Vivarium as ‘a college situated in a purer air*
(Clarendon)!

g There is an untranslatable pun in the word delicias , meaning pets, or table-delicacies.

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is contented, and relinquishes them all.

5. Furthermore, residents in the city are not deprived of the fine
sight of workers in the fields. They look out to their satisfaction on
abundant grape harvests; on the threshing-floors, productive work is in
their view; the olives too display their greenery. No-one lacks the
pleasures of the countryside who can see all this from the city. Just
because this place has no walls, you would think it a rural city; you
could likewise judge it to be an urban villa; and, as half one, half the
other, it is clearly rich in praise.

6. Since travellers often long to admire it, and wish to escape the
fatigues of their journey, the citizens are worn out by their own
expenses, 9 thanks to the city’s charm, and the provision of rations and
extra post-horses. Therefore, lest its charm should injure the city, or
a thing of fame become a cause of loss, I have decided that the
provision of rations and extra post-horses, according to the allotted
travel-warrants, shall be entered on the state tax-account. 7.
Furthermore, I abolish altogether the judge’s travel-fees [pulveratica ],
and decree that, in accordance with the regulations of former times,
governors shall receive three days’ rations only; if they prolong their
stay, they shall live at their own expense. 10 For those who administer
the laws meant them to be a help, and not a burden.

Therefore, my city, comfort yourself with the sight of equity: * 11
what I am granting you is no special indulgence, but your lawful
due. 12 By God’s help, live in enjoyment of the justice of the times,
and of a special and joyful safety. Others may talk of the Fortunate

9 Mommsen reads proprii cives fatigantur expensis ; Fridh follows the main MSS reading
propriis ... expensis .

10 suis expensis facta tarditate victuri - Fridh’s reading; Mommsen conjectures ...vecturis.
Judge and governor are identical.

11 Qua de re aequitatis intuitu, civitas nostra, relevare : Mommsen supposes a lacuna after
nostra , rejected by Fridh.

12 On the reading and translation of this sentence, see Traube, index, s.v. iudicarius ,
followed by Fridh, against Mommsen.

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Islands; 13 1 would rather give the name to your dwelling.
[With XU. 15, compare XI.14.]

XII. 16 INSTRUCTIONS ON TAX COLLECTION
[ CANONICARIA ] 14 (a.537, Sept. 1st)

1. Time, which is always adapted to human affairs, since it
constantly takes the opportunity of reconciling us even to our troubles,
warns me to revive my care for the tax revenues by the annual
celebration, since the fabric of the state is clearly based on that
institution. And it is rightly to be prayed for, being provided for the
good of all. We must love those things from which the state is seen to
derive its solidity; so long as it is revived by returning revenue, its
constitution is held together in solid strength. 2. Therefore, while a
display of loyalty is a great thing at any time, the more necessary it is,
the more acceptably it is rendered. Let the landowners, then, pay the
dues that will win them favour. Indeed, a debt that cannot be evaded
should always be cheerfully produced, so that a payment clearly made
without compulsion may thereby become a gift.

And therefore - may the command be blessed - I order you to
advise the land-owner in your province, for the first indiction [537-8],
that he must loyally pay his tax money, keeping to the three
instalments. Thus, no one shall grumble that he has been forced to pay
too soon; nor, again, shall anyone claim that he has been passed over
by prolonged 1 leniency. Let no man exceed the amount of the just
weight, and let the scales be altogether just: there will be no end to

13 The mythical paradise of dead heroes, somewhere in the Atlantic.

14 This is an annual letter of exhortation and instruction distributed among the provincial
governors; XI.7 and XII.2 are other examples; cf. III.8.2.

15 The MSS read letata ; Accursius conjectured lentata ; Mommsen p rote lata; Traube
largata ; Fridh plectenda; cf. Fridh, 1968, 97ff. 1 prefer the first two emendations; delays
in collection were common, and could mean a disastrous accumulation of arrears; cf.
Ill .8.

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plundering, should it be permissible to exceed the weight. 16 4.
Furthermore, you are to send my secretariat, in regular form, an
accurate four monthly record of the expenses of collection, so that truth
may shine out from the public accounts, with all error and obscurity
wiped away.

But so that, by God’s help, you may fulfill the statutes, I have
directed X and Y, civil servants of my office, to oversee you and your
staff, remembering their own risk. Thus, the command you know of
may achieve its purpose without blame. Beware, then, lest the blame
either of dishonest bribery, or of sluggish idleness, should attach to
you, and the business you have failed to advance should bring loss to
your own fortune.

XIL20 [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT,
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THOMAS AND PETER,
TREASURERS (a.536, later than February)

1. Your fidelity will remember, as I do, the case of the holy
Agapitus, Pope of the city of Rome, when, by royal command
[Theodahad’s], he was sent on an embassy to the prince of the East
[Justinian]. He gave pledges, and received from you y pounds of gold,
with a receipt made out in due form, so that our provident lord might
also speed the departure of one whom he had suddenly ordered
away. 1 By lending him money in necessity, the king initially made a
generous provision; but how much more gloriously has he acted by
giving away what might have been returned to him with thanks. 2.
Need was overcome without loss: the hands of the Pope bestowed
money which his estate did not possess, and that journey which was
certainly crammed with giving has been rendered free of cost. What a
sight it was when the bishop gave largesse to those who asked it, yet
the Church felt no loss! He was more a deputy than a donor, for he

16 See n.15 to XI.16.

17 On the punctuation, see Traube, index s.v. iubere.

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whose property is seen to bear the cost must get the credit. What may
not be the influence on a pious prince of such an embassy, assuredly
despatched in so remarkable a manner?

3. Therefore, advised by my instructions, and fortified by the
royal command, you are to give back the vessels of the saints and the
signed obligation, without delay, to the holy Apostle Peter's men of
business, so that objects returned to our advantage may soon fulfill
their wish. Let the church utensils that are famous throughout the world
be restored to the hands of the deacons. Let them be given what was
once their own, since what the Pope legally pawned, he justly receives
as a gift.

4. This surpasses the example I related so carefully in my history.
For, when king Alaric [I], glutted with the booty of Rome, received
vessels of the Apostle Peter from those who brought them in, he soon
made an enquiry, realised the situation, and ordered them to be
returned to the sacred threshold by the hands of the plunderers. Thus,
greed, which had permitted a crime in its urge for booty, wiped out the
transgression by an act of most generous devotion. But is it surprising
that he who had enriched himself by the plunder of such a city should
be unwilling to pillage the reverend property of the saints? 18

5. Our king, however, by a religious resolve, has returned vessels
that were made his own under the law of pledges. And therefore, after
such an action, many prayers should be made for us, since we trust that
joy will be conferred when we ask a reward for righteous deeds.

[Agapitus’ mission to Constantinople, where he died on April 22nd, took place in the
early months of 536. His secular diplomacy was ineffectual; for the ecclesiastical side,
see Liber Pontificalis (Davis, 52f.). Theodahad appointed his successor Silverius against
the wishes of the clergy, perhaps helped by the debts to the crown described in this letter.
Agapitus* inability to finance his journey illustrates the effect of electioneering on Church
property (IX.15-16).]

18 The Visigoth Alaric I sacked Rome in 410. This story derives largely from Orosius,
History against the Pagans , VII.39.7-11; Jordanes, Getica , 156, although using
Cassiodorus’ Gothic History , mentions only that Alaric spared the holy places.

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XIL22 [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT,
TO THE PROVINCIALS OF ISTRIA (a. 537, autumn)

1. The public budget, fluctuating with seasonal conditions, can be
kept in bounds by this method: if the wholesome commands of the state
match the local production. For, where the crops are richer, there
procurement is easy. For, if something which hungry barrenness has
denied is levied, then both the province is injured, and the desired
result is not obtained.

Now, by travellers' report, I have learnt that the province of
Istria, which owes its glorious name to the triad of noble crops, and,
by divine gift, teems with wine, oil and corn, is enjoying fertility in the
present year. And therefore, the aforementioned foodstuffs, paid as tax
to the value of y solidi , shall be credited to you for this, the first
indiction [537-8]; but the surplus I leave for official expenses to the
loyal province. 2. But, since I have to procure greater quantities of
what I mentioned, I have also sent you z solidi from my treasury, that
these necessities may be collected in great quantities without cost to
you. For often, when you are under pressure to sell to outsiders, you
suffer loss, especially at that season when you are deprived of foreign
purchasers; and it is unusual to obtain gold when, as you know, the
merchants are not there. But how much better it is to obey your rulers
than to provide for distant regions, and to pay your dues in victuals,
rather than to endure the arrogance of purchasers. 19

3. Moreover, what I, from love of justice, am proclaiming, is
something that you might propose to me, since, where I am not
burdened by shipping costs, I should do no injury in the price. For
yours is the nearest region to us across the Ionian [Adriatic] Sea,
covered with olives, glorious for its com, rich in vines, where all crops

19 The commutation of taxes in kind for money ( adaeratio ) had grown greatly during the
5th century; procurement of the cash meant both economic problems and advantages for
the tax-payer; cf. Bamish, 1987, 166f. This year, the Istrians are to pay at least part of
their tax in kind. Cassiodorus is also operating a levy by compulsory purchase
( coemptio ); cf. 11.38, C.77i. XI. 15.2.

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flow in desirable fertility, as though from three udders generous in their
milk. Not undeservedly, it is called the Campania of Ravenna, 3 ’ the
store-room of the royal city, an only too pleasant and luxurious retreat.
With its northward location, it enjoys a wonderfully mild climate. 4.
It also has certain Baiaes of its own -1 am not talking nonsense - where
the rough sea enters the hollows of the coast, and is calmed to the
smooth and lovely surface of a lake. These places also supply many
garum factories, 21 and glory in their wealth of fish. Not one Lake
Avemus is found there. Many salt-water fish-pools can be seen, in
which oysters breed everywhere spontaneously, even without labour.
Thus, there need evidently be no care in feeding, nor uncertainty in
catching these delicacies. 5. Great villas shine out far and wide: you
would think them sited like pearls to show the taste of your ancestors
in this province, which is plainly adorned by such buildings. That coast
also has a most beautiful chain of islands; arranged with charm and
utility, it both shields ships from danger, and enriches the farmers by
lavish harvests. Istria clearly refreshes our hard-working court; it feeds
the nobles on its luxuries, lesser men on its output of foodstuffs, and
almost its entire produce is enjoyed by the royal city.

Now let the loyal province more willingly furnish its supplies. It
should comply fully when called on, since it used to perform most
lavishly when there was no request. 6. But, lest any hesitation should
arise over my commands, I have sent to you, by this authority, the
most industrious Laurentius, tested by me in great labours for the state,
so that, according to the appended directives [breves], he may expedite
without delay what he knows has been entrusted to him for the state
budget. Now procure what you are commanded to. For you will render
yourselves loyal public servants by receiving your orders with pleasure.

7. But I shall declare the prices regulated for you on a subsequent

20 Campania, long famous for its fertility, its bathing resort of Baiae, and its sulphurous
and unwholesome Lake Avemus, was still a Riviera for the aristocracy, and important
to the food-supply of Rome.

21 Garum , a kind of fish-sauce, was one of the most traded products of the coasts of the
Roman empire.

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occasion, when the bearer of this letter has sent me a report on the
state of the harvest. For it is impossible to assess anything with justice
unless the resources can be clearly ascertained. Indeed, it is an unfair
judge who promulgates an impossible decree, and he who would
pronounce without consideration clearly has a bad conscience.

Xn.24 [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT,
TO THE TRIBUNES OF THE COASTS (date as XII.22)

1. I previously ordered that Istria should send to the court at
Ravenna the commodities of wine, oil and com, of which, this year, it
enjoys a lavish quantity. But do you, who have many ships on its
borders, provide with equally obliging loyalty, and take pains to
transport speedily what that region is ready to supply. Indeed, the
favour of accomplishment is alike for both parties, since the one
without the other cannot complete the work. Be prepared, then, for a
voyage to neighbouring parts, you who often cross vast distances. 2.
You are, in a way, traversing your own guest-rooms, as you sail
through your country.

Among your advantages, moreover, another route is available to
you, forever safe and calm. For, when the sea is closed by the raging
of the winds, a path through pleasant river country is opened to you.
Your keels do not fear the storm blasts; in their great good fortune,
they hug the land and often run aground but are never lost. From a
distance, when their channel cannot be seen, it looks as if they are
moving through the fields. They were kept still by ropes, but they
move drawn by cables; the course of things is changed, and men help
their ships on with their own feet. Without effort, they pull their
carriers; and, instead of the risks of sailing, the ships employ the more
fortunate footsteps of the crew.

3. It is a pleasure to mention how I have seen your dwellings to
be sited. The Venetian districts, famous and filled with noblemen from

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of old, 22 touch Ravenna and the Po on the south. On the east, they
enjoy the pleasures of the Adriatic coasts, where alternate tides in their
movement now cover, now expose the face of the land, by their ebb
and flow. Here you have your homes like sea-birds. For a man is seen
now as a mainlander, now as an islander, so that you might think that
here, instead, are the Cyclades, where you suddenly see the shapes of
places changed. 23 4. Indeed, like those islands, houses can be seen
stretching far away among the waters, not the work of nature, but built
by human labour. For there, solid ground is heaped together by
wattling flexible withies, and there is no hesitation in opposing so frail
a bulwark to the sea’s flood, since the shallows of that coast are unable
to throw up a great weight of waters, and, unaided by depth, the waves
have no force.

5. Now the inhabitants have one source of supply: they cram
themselves with fish alone. There, rich and poor feed together on equal
terms. One food keeps all alive; a similar dwelling houses everyone;
they know no envy over their homes; and, living under this rule, they
avoid a vice to which all the world is plainly subject. 6, All your
rivalry, though, is in the salt-works. Instead of using ploughs and
sickles, you roll grinding cylinders. Thence all your harvest is
produced, since in them you have a resource you do not make. A
food-stuff currency is coined there, so to speak. Every wave is the
servant of your art. A man may have small interest in seeking gold, but
there is no one who does not wish to acquire salt - rightly so, since all
kinds of food owe to it the pleasure that they give.

7. So then, diligently refit the ships which you tie up to your walls
like animals. Thus, when the most industrious Laurentius, who has
been sent to obtain these victuals, shall remind you of your orders, you
shall make all haste, and not delay the necessary supplies by any
difficulty, since you have the advantage of being able to choose your

22 Venetiae praedicabiles quondam plenae nobilibus : cf. Jordanes, Getica 148: its
[Venetia’s] landowners, our forebears tell us, were formerly called [in Greek] *ainetoi
that is 'praiseworthy \

23 Cyclades: a complex group of islands in the Aegean.

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route to fit the weather.

[xn.24 is of interest as showing something of the settlements and commerce from which
Venice later developed. In 552, the barges of these coast-dwellers helped a Byzantine
army to march from Salona to Ravenna, outflanking Gothic defences.]

xn.25 CASSIODORUS SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT, TO
THE ILLUSTRIOUS AMBROSIUS, HIS DEPUTY (date as
XII.22 24 )

1. Those who survey the changed order of things are often
troubled men, since the clearly unusual is frequently a portent. For
nothing is done without a reason, nor is the world involved in
fortuitous happenings; but all that we see brought to a conclusion must
be the plan of God. When kings have changed their decrees, men are
in suspense, lest things should go in in a guise other than use has
accustomed them to. But who will not be disturbed, and deeply curious
about such events, if something mysterious and unusual seems to be
coming on us from the stars? For, as there is a certain security in
watching the seasons run on in their succession, so we are filled with
deep curiosity, when we see that such things are changing.

2. How strange it is, I ask you, to see the principal star [the sun],
and not its usual brightness; to gaze on the moon, glory of the night,
at its full, but shorn of its natural splendour? All of us are still
observing, as it were, a blue-coloured sun; we marvel at bodies which
cast no mid-day shadow, and at that strength of intensest heat reaching
extreme and dull tepidity. And this has not happened in the momentary
loss of an eclipse, but has assuredly been going on equally through
almost the entire year. 3. How fearful it is, then, to endure for so long
what will terrify a people, even when it passes quickly! So, we have
had a winter without storms, spring without mildness, summer without
heat. Whence can we now hope for mild weather, when the months that

24 Ruggini, 325, n.336, would date this to late spring, 534.

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once ripened the crops have been deadly sick under the northern blasts?
For what will give fertility, if the soil does not grow warm in summer?
What will open the bud, if the parent tree does not absorb the rain' Out
of all the elements, we find these two opposed to us: perpetual frost,
and unnatural drought. The seasons have changed by failing to change;
and what used to be achieved by mingled rains cannot be gained from
dryness only.

4. And therefore, from the crops of the past, your prudence is to
defeat the future dearth; for such was last year’s fortunate abundance
that provisions will also suffice for the coming months. Everything that
is sought for as food must be put in store. The private person will
easily find what he needs when the public supply system has filled
itself.

5. But, lest the present situation should be tormenting you with
deep doubts, return to pondering the order of nature: what seems
mysterious to the marvelling crowd should be reasonable to you. For
it has certainly been so arranged by divine ordinance, the stars of this
year have so met in their houses by joint operations, that winter is
rendered drier and colder than its wont. Hence, the air, condensed
from snow by excessive cold, is not thinned by the sun’s fire; but it
endures in the density it has acquired, obstructs the heat of the sun, and
cheats the gaze of human frailty. For things in mid space dominate our
sight, and we can see through them only what the rarity of their
substance allows. 6. For this vast inane, which is spread between earth
and heaven as the most tenuous element, allows us to see clearly so
long as it is pure, and splashed with the sun’s light. But, if it is
condensed by some sort of mixture, then, as if with a kind of tautened
skin, it permits neither the natural colours, nor the heat of the heavenly
bodies to penetrate. In other ages, too, this has often temporarily
happened with a cloudy sky. Hence it is that, for so long, the rays of
the stars have been darkened with an unusual colour; that the harvester
dreads the novel cold; that the fruits have hardened with the passage of
time; that the grapes are bitter in their old age.

7. But, if this is to be ascribed to divine providence, we should
not be troubled, since, by God’s own command, we are forbidden to

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look for a sign [Matthew, xvi.1-4]. However, we understand that all
this is plainly harming the fruits of the earth, when we fail to see our
customary foods nourished by their own natural law. Therefore, your
care must see to it that one year’s dearth does not throw us into
confusion, since the first administrator of our office [Joseph] took care
that past plenty should suffice to mitigate succeeding scarcity.

[For possible influences on this letter by Boethius’ C.PhiL> see Bamish, 1990, 28.]

xn.26 CASSIODORUS SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT, TO
HIS ACTIVITY [VIR STRENUUS] PAUL (date as XII.22)

1. The good of the state is often maintained by a profitable act of
pity, since a remission made at the plea of worthy men is in fact a
gain. Now the venerable [bishop] Augustine, a man distinguished by
both his name and his way of life, has come, and has made a
lamentable report to me of the needs of the Veneti. 25 Neither wine,
nor com, nor millet has been produced among them; and he declares
that the fortunes of the provincials have reached such a state of penury
that they can hardly endure the risks of life unless the royal pity should
take thought for them with its usual humanity. This seems cruelty to
me, to make any demands on suppliants, and to request what the
province clearly lacks. For he who levies the non-existent extracts only
tears from such people.

2. And therefore, moved by the report of so good a man, by this
authority I remit the wine and com that I had made you collect for the
supply of the army from the cities of Concordia, Aquileia, and Forum
Iulii [Cividale del Friuli]; only the meat, as detailed in the schedule
[brevis] given you, is to be provided thence. For I will send a sufficient
quantity of com from here, when it proves necessary. 3. And, since I
have learnt that much wine has been produced in Istria, you are to
demand from there an amount equal to what had been requested from

25 Augustine’s diocese was presumably in Venetia.

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the above mentioned cities - at market rates, so that the Xstrians
themselves may suffer no injury, when just prices are preserved for
their benefit. You must realise that no venality is to put a price on the
present indulgence, for this reason: that, as the remedy has been
disinterested, so its glory may remain untarnished. Know that you will
be subjected to a heavy punishment, should you be seen to have
accepted what it is unlawful to give.

Xn.27 [CASSIODORUS] SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT,
TO DATIUS, BISHOP OF MILAN (date as XII.22)

1. There is small use in a good command if I do not mean to
carry it out through holy men. For the upright purpose of the just
increases the benefit, and anything carried through without fraud is
rightly ascribed to the merits of the donor. For it is fitting that priestly
integrity should execute royal generosity. For he whose task it is to do
good on his own account can laudably fulfill the wishes of others.

2. And therefore, I request your sanctity, whose aim it is to serve
the divine commands, to cause the distribution to a famished people of
a third of the millet in the granaries of Pavia and Dertona, as ordered
by the king, at the price of 25 pecks [modii] for a solidus, M under
your own regulation; thus no man’s venality will supply it to those who
can keep themselves from their own resources. He who has little should
receive the royal kindness. The command is given to help the needy,
not the rich.The man who puts his bounty into a full vessel in fact
pours it away, for only what is collected in empty ones is in fact saved.

3. Hence, your holiness should not consider the offices of pity an
insult, since all is worthy of you where charity is found - indeed, to
carry out another’s wishes faithfully is to accomplish good works of
your own.

26 This was above normal, but well below current famine prices, apparently 10 modii the
solidus; 1 modius of wheat would yield 25 lb. of bread; cf. XII.28.8, Anonymus
Valesianus 73, Jones, 1964, 445ff., Ruggini, 361, 365.

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To manage this affair, with God’s help, I have taken care to
appoint X and Y, who, following the orders of your holiness, will do
nothing of their own accord, but will strive only to obey you. But, as
to the solidly as many as can be collected by the sale of the
above-mentioned quantity of millet, inform me by your own report. So
they may be deposited in the treasury, and reserved for replacing the
afore-mentioned foodstuff, by God’s help, at some future time. This is
like renewing a garment, which is unthreaded and taken apart, that it
may be rewoven in a new form, and with greater magnificence.

[In 538, Datius was to take a leading part in the revolt of Milan and much of Liguria
from the Gothic side; the result was the destruction of his city in 539. Visiting Rome in
winter, 537, to prepare the revolt, he may have reported the ravages of famine in Liguria
(Procopius, Wars VI.vii.35, Liber Pontificalis , Davis, p.55); this helps to date XII.26-27.
If his report was reliable, Cassiodorus’ efforts had proved rather ineffectual.]

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184 GLOSSARY

OF ALLUSIONS AND TECHNICAL TERMS
IN THE TRANSLATION

Ammianus Marcellinus: soldier and historian. The surviving part of
his history of the Roman empire runs from 353 to 378, and was
published c.390.

Attila: king of the Huns c.435-453, he raided both the eastern and the
western empire. He was defeated in 451 at the battle of the
Catalaunian Plains in Gaul, by a Romano-Visigothic coalition led by
Aetius.

Augustus: the first Roman emperor, 27 B.C. - A.D.14.

Cancellarius : the term may denote an usher for the Praetorian Prefect
(q.v.), but, in the letters translated here, the Prefect’s administrative
deputy in a province. Despite high rank and major responsibilities,
overlapping with the governor’s, he was probably appointed by the
Prefect, not the monarch.

Canonicarius: a clerk ( scriniarius ) of the Praetorian Prefecture,
routinely despatched to supervise tax collection in the provinces.

Cato: M. Porcius Cato, ‘the censor,’ Roman general and statesman,
234-149 B.C.; commanded in Spain in 194; a type of stem,
traditional morality.

Cicero: see Tullius.

Coemptio : levy of supplies by compulsory purchase.

Comitiacus : general-service agent of the Ostrogothic kings; Roman
equivalent of the saio (q.v.), except in the provision of tuitio (q.v.).

Compulsor: a special tax-collector sent from the Praetorian Prefecture
to enforce the payment of arrears.

Consul: two Consuls were nominally the chief magistrates of the
Roman state, dating back to the foundation of the Republic. The
Ordinary Consuls, who took up office on January the 1st, gave their
names to the year. A former Consul was called a Consular (as also
were governors of certain provinces).

Curiales (decuriones ): see under town-councillors.

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185

Diana: Italian goddess, identified with the Greek huntress Artemis,
whose legendary cult in the Scythian Crimea involved human
sacrifice. Both might also be identified with the moon goddess, and
with goddesses of the underworld, such as Proserpine.

Diptychs: these double tablets of ivory for select recipients
commemorated consular games or other senatorial functions. They
were usually carved with portraits and appropriate scenes.

Distinction, Distinguished: used to translate spectabilitas, spectabilis ;
the title of the second grade in the senatorial class.

Edict: a legal measure, an order, a letter of advice or consolation,
addressed directly to the people, or a group of them by the monarch
or his Praetorian Prefect; the term is not always used correctly in
the Variae .

Exactor, a local tax-collector, in the service of the town councillors
(q.v.).

Indiction: strictly a late-Roman tax cycle of 15 years; but the term ‘nth
indiction’ denotes a numbered year within the cycle. Starting on
September the 1st, it timed official appointments as well as fiscal
affairs.

Joseph: Jewish hero and patriarch; he became chief minister of an
Egyptian Pharaoh, and his stores of grain relieved a famine
(Genesis, xli).

Juvenal: Roman satirical poet, who wrote between A.D. 100 and 130,
but was popular with late Roman senators.

Livy: historian of the Roman republic, who wrote under Augustus
(q.v.), but was popular with late Roman senators.

Master of the Offices (magister offtciorum): a minister with illustris
rank, he controlled the bodyguards (dottiest ici) y the public post
(cursus publicus ), and the secretarial staffs of the palace (sacra
scrinia ), and regulated audiences with the monarch.

Mercury: Roman god, identified with the Greek Hermes, patron of
commerce, music, literature, and oratory.

Muses: the nine goddesses of the arts and literature.

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THE VAR1AE OF CASSIODORUS

Notitia Dignitatum, Register of State Dignities: official list of civil
posts and military commands in the Roman empire, illuminated with
their insignia. The copy from which extant MSS derive probably
dates c. 395/420.

Novels: imperial laws published after the Theodosian Code (q.v.) or
Code of Justinian y and appended to them.

Patrician: the oldest Roman families had originally been called
patrician, but, in the late Roman world, the title is bestowed by the
monarch as a non-hereditary honour on leading senators, and
habitually on the commander-in-chief (magister utriusque militiae
praesentalis , or General-in- Waiting ). The Ostrogothic rulers
probably held the office of commander-in-chief, but a new title of
patricius praesentalis , or Patrician-in- Waiting was apparently
devised for the army commanders of the boy king Athalaric.

Patrimony, Count of the: an illustris minister, he seems to have had
the land management of the crown properties in certain outlying
provinces, whose taxes he also collected.

Praetorian Prefects: the highest ministers (numbering four in the
undivided empire), they were responsible for financial budgeting
and state supplies, collection of the staple land-tax, and general
provincial administration; they had the right to issue edicts, and
their jurisdiction was inappellable.

Prince: used to translate princeps . Usually (not exclusively) applied by
Cassiodorus to Ostrogothic kings and Roman emperors, this word
has overtones of good relations between monarch and subjects, and
of traditional, legitimate and imperial authority. It is not, however,
a fully imperial title. Cf. Reydellet, 214-31. (Also a civil service
rank.)

Private Estates (res privatae ), Count of the: an illustris minister, he
controlled rents from, and accessions to, the crown estates.

Quaestor (quaestor palatii ): legal adviser, and drafter of state
documents for kings or emperors; see introduction.

Right Honourable: used to translate vir clarissimus ; the title of the
third grade in the senatorial class.

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GLOSSARY

187

Romulus: legendary founder and first king of Rome; at the games he
gave on the site of the future Circus Maximus, the Romans
abducted women of the Sabine tribe.

Sacred Largesses (sacrae largitiones ), Count of the: an illustris
minister, he controlled precious and semi-precious metals and
similar materials, was responsible for the coinage, and military
clothing, distributed pay and special donatives, and collected certain
taxes, including customs dues.

Saio (plural saiones ): a word of German origin for a personal retainer;
in the Variae a general-service agent of the Ostrogothic kings, and
barbarian equivalent of the comitiacus (q.v.). He was often used to
give the royal protection ( tuitio , q.v.) to those threatened by the
lawless and powerful, and was assigned as enforcement officer to
the cancellarii (q.v.).

Solidus: the standard gold coin of the late Roman world, weighing 1/72
of a pound; a year’s food for the very poor might be less than 2
solidi in value.

Theodosian Code: a compilation of late Roman law, published by
order of the emperor Theodosius II in 438.

Town councillors ( curiales , decuriones) : hereditary members of their
councils (curiae), they were responsible for maintaining order,
registering documents, collecting taxes, and furnishing supplies and
services to the state in their cities and surrounding territories.

Tribune-and-Secretary (tribunus et notarius): originally associated
with the secretariat of the emperor’s consistory council, the title
was awarded to retiring senior officials of the Praetorian Prefecture;
it might also be held without specific duties by men of high social
rank.

Tuitio : protection, especially that which the king, through his saio , or
some leading man, might give against an aggressor.

Tullius (Tully): M.Tullius Cicero, statesman and philosopher, 106-43
B.C.; the most admired of all Roman orators.

Ulysses (Odysseus): Greek hero from Ithaca, famous for wisdom and
cunning; after the fall of Troy, he spent ten years wandering the
Mediterranean.

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THE VAR1AE OF CASSIODORUS

Urban Prefect {praefectus urbi ): appointed by the monarch, usually
from the high senatorial nobility, he governed Rome and Italy for
one hundred miles around, for one year, with the rank of illustris.
Answerable only to the monarch, he was his vital link with the
Senate. The Relationes of Symmachus depict his duties in the late
fourth century.

Vergil (Vii^il): P.Vergilius Maro, poet, 70-19 B.C., bom at Mantua;
his epic the Aeneid , recounting the legendary origins of Rome, was
almost a sacred text to the late Roman aristocracy.

Vicar (vicarius): the Praetorian Prefectures were divided into groups
of provinces called dioceses, under Vicars with appellate
jurisdiction and supervisory functions; the relation of their duties to
the Prefects’ is obscure. The Vicarius Italiae had authority in
northern Italy (Italia Annonaria) y the Vicarius Romae in the south
and islands (Italia Suburbicaria). In Cassiodorus’ time, the former
may seldom have been appointed; the latter’s judicial powers were
apparently restricted to a forty mile radius from Rome.

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SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

189

TEXTS

Acta Synhodorum Habitarum Romae : ed. Th. Mommsen, MGH AA
XII, Berlin, 1894.

Ammianus Mareellinus: Res Gestae , ed. with English transl. by J.
Rolfe (Loeb); also transl. by W. Hamilton (Penguin Classics,
abridged).

Anonymus Valesianus (chronicle): ed. Th. Mommsen, MGH AA IX,
Berlin, 1892; with English transl. in Loeb Ammianus (above).
Boethius: Consolation of Philosophy, ed. with English transl. by H.F.
Stewart, E.K. Rand and S J. Tester (Loeb); also transl. by V.E.
Watts (Penguin Classics); De Arithmetica and De Musica, ed. G.
Friedlein (Teubner).

Cassiodorus: Variae - see the introduction, xxxiv-xxxv; Chronicle , ed.
Th. Mommsen, MGH AA XI, Berlin, 1893-4; De Anima , ed. J.
Hal porn, CCSL 96, Tumhout, 1973; Expositio Psalmorum , ed.
M. Adriaen, CCSL 97-8, Turnhout, 1958, English transl. by P.G.
Walsh, Ancient Christian Writers series, 1991; Institutions, ed.
R.A.B. Mynors, Oxford, 1937, English transl. by L.W. Jones,
An Introduction to Divine and Human Readings , New York,
1946; Fragments of Panegyrics, ed. L. Traube, MGH AA XII.
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Ennodius: Works, ed. G. Hartel, CSEL VI, Vienna, 1882; F. Vogel,
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(80) by G.M. Cook, Fathers of the Church series, vol.15.
Epistulae Austrasicae, ed. W. Gundlach, MGH , Epistulae III, Berlin,
1892.

Epistulae Theodericianae Variae, ed. Th. Mommsen, MGH AA XII.
Isidore: Etymologiae or Origines, ed. W.M. Lindsay, Oxford, 1911.
John (Ioannes) Lydus: De Magistratibus: ed. with English transl. by

7_p168-204

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190

THE VAR1AE OF CASSIODORUS

A.C, Bandy (On Powers , American Philosophical Society, 1983);
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Jordanes: Getica , ed. Th. Mommsen, MGH AA V.l, Berlin, 1882;
English transl. by C. Mierow, The Gothic History of Jordanes ,
Princeton, 1915.

Liber Pontificalis : ed. L. Duchesne, Paris, 1886-92; English transl. in
progress, vol.I, by R. Davis, The Book of Pontiffs , Liverpool,
1989, TTH series.

Procopius: Wars , Anecdota: ed. with English transl. by H.B. Dewing
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Williamson (Penguin Classics).

Sidonius Apollinaris: Poems and Letters y ed. with English transl. by
W.B. Anderson (Loeb).

Symmachus: Letters , ed. O. Seeck, MGHAA X, Berlin, 1883; ed. with
French transl. of book I-V by J.P. Callu (Bud6); book X
(Relationes) ed. with English transl. by R.H. Barrow, Prefect and
Emperor , Oxford, 1973.

Theodosian Code , with Sirmondian Constitutions and post-Theodosian
Novels: ed. Th. Mommsen and P.M. Meyer, Berlin, 1905;
English transl. by C. Pharr, Princeton, 1952.

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J.D. Harries, ‘The Roman Imperial Quaestor from Constantine to
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S. Krautschick, Cassiodor und die Politik seiner Zeit , Bonn, 1983.

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M. Maas, ‘Roman History and Christian Idealism in Justinian’s Reform
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S.G. MacCormack, ‘Latin Prose Panegyrics’, in Empire and
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G. Mathew, Byzantine Aesthetics , London, 1963.

J.F. Matthews, ‘The Letters of Symmachus’, in Latin Literature of the
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J.J. O’Donnell, Cassiodorus , Berkeley, etc., 1979.

Ch. Pietri, ‘Le s6nat, le peuple chretien et les partis du cirque sous le
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J. Richards, The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages ,
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M. Roberts, The Jeweled Style: Poetry and Poetics in Late Antiquity ,
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W. Sinnigen, ‘Administrative Shifts of Competence under Theoderic’,
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THE VARIAE OF CASSIODORUS

E. Stein, Histoire du Bas-Empire , II, Paris, etc., 1949.

M. Steinby, ‘L’industria laterizia di Roma nel tardo impero’, in Societd
Romana e Impero Tardoantico II, ed. A.Giardina, Rome, 1986.
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G. Tabacco, The Struggle for Power in Medieval Italy: Structures of
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S. Teillet, Des Goths a la Nation Gothique , Paris, 1984.

E.A. Thompson, Romans and Barbarians: the Decline of the Western
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L. Traube, Index Rerum et Verborum, MGH AA XII.

A. Van de Vyver, *La Victoire contre les Alamans et la Conversion de

Clovis’, RBPh 15-17, 1936-8, 859-914, 35-94, 793-813.

G. Vid6n, The Roman Chancery Tradition: Studies in the Language of

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W.F. Volbach, Elfenbeinarbeiten der Spdtantike und des friihen
Mittelalters (3rd ed.), Mainz, 1976.

J.M. Wallace-Hadrill, The Barbarian West , 400-1000 (3rd ed.),
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B. Ward-Perkins, From Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages: Urban

Public Building in Northern and Central Italy , A,D. 300-850,
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C .J. Wickham, Early Medieval Italy: Central Power and Local Society ,
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H. Wolfram, History of the Goths , Berkeley, etc., 1978.

I. N. Wood, ‘Gregory of Tours and Clovis’, RBPh 63, 1985, 249-72.
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O.J. Zimmermann, The Late Latin Vocabulary of the *Variae ' of
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INDEX 1: PERSONS, FAMILIES, PEOPLES 195

AND PLACES (SELECTED)

Aetius xxxvii, xlii-xliii, 1.4.11
Agapitus (Patrician) 1.23, 1.27.3
Agapitus I (Pope) iii, X.20.3-4 (?), XII.20
Alamanni 11.41
AlaricD xii, III. 1-4
Amalaberga xxviii, IV. 1, XI. 1, n.6

Amalasuintha xii-xiv, xvi, xxviii, xlviii, 1-li, IV. 1, endnote, IX. 18,
n.ll X.3, X.20.4 (?), X.21, n.10, X.32.2, XI.l, XI.2.2; in
general, see VIII-IX, drafted in her regency.

Amals xi-xiii, xxxii, IV. 1.1, IX.24.4-6, X.11.3, XI. 1.19-20, XI. 13.4
Ammianus Marcellinus 11.16, n.5,11.32, n.18,11.40, n.25, III.51,
endnote, VI.5, n.3, IX.21, n.16, IX.24, n.17, XI. 14, n.14
Anastasius xi, xlv, II. 1, 11.38, n.20, III.4, n.5, V.42, endnote,
VIII. 1.5 (?), X.22.2 (?)

Anicii x, xxxvii-xxxviii, xliv-xlv, X.11.2; cf. Boethius, Faustus,
Maximus

Arator xxxix, VIII. 12
Arigern xlii, III.36, IV.22.4
Arles III.32, III.44

Athalaric xii-xiv, xvi, xxiii, xxxii, xxxviii, xlviii, 1, VIII. 1, X.3.1,
X.31, endnote, XI. 1, XI.2.2; in general, see VIII-IX drafted mostly
in his name.

Attila xliii, 1.4.11-12,111.1.1

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius xiii, xvi-xvii, xxi, xxv, xxviii,
xxxvi-xxxviii, xl, xlii, xliv, xlvii-xlix, li (n.109), liii, 1.10, 1.45,

II. 40, III.52, n.39, IV.22, n.5, V.4, endnote, V.41, n.6, VIII.28,
n.10, X.H, n.2, endnote, XI.l, n.7, XII.25, endnote

Boniface II (Pope) IX. 15.3

Bruttium xxxvii-xxxviii, xlvi, xlix, lii, 1.3.5, 1.4.14, III.8,

III. 46.2-3, VIII.31, VIII.33.3, XI.39, XII.5, XII. 12, XII.13,
XII. 15

Burgundians 1.45.2,1.46, III.2, III.32,n.23, III.41,n.26, XI.l.13

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196

THE VARIAE OF CASSIODORUS

Caelianus 1.23, 1.27.3, IV.22.3
Calabria VIII.33.3

Campania 11.32, endnote, III.27, IV.5.2, IV. 10, VIII.33.3,
XII.22.3-4

Cassiodorus (1) 1.4.14
Cassiodorus (2) xxxvii, 1.4.10-13

Cassiodorus (3) xxxvi-xxxix, xliv, xlvi, li, 1.3-4, III.28, IX.24.9
Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator introduction, passim, I.4S,
n.24, endnote, 11.40, n.24, III. 1, n.l. III.51, endnote, IV. 1,
endnote, V.l, endnote, V.40, n.5, V.42, nn.8,10, VI.3, n.2,
VIII.33, n.14, IX. 15, n.l, endnote, IX.24-5, X.20, n.6, X.22,
n.ll, endnote, X.26.2, X.31, n.13, endnote, X.32, endnote, XI. 14,
nn. 12-14, endnote; otherwise, see XI-XII sent mostly by him, and
notes.

Circus Maximus III.51

Clovis xii, xxxix-xl, 11.20, n.8, 11.38, n.20, 11.40.1,11.41, III. 1-4
Colosseum V.42.5
Como XI. 14

Consilinum/Marcellianum VIII. 3 3
Cunigastus xlix, VIII.28
Cyprian xlviii-xlix, V.40-1
Datius XII. 27

Dedi x, xxxviii, 11.32, endnote, III.6, IV.22, n.4; cf. Decius,
Inportunus

Caecina Mavortius Basilius Decius 11.21, endnote, 11.32, III.6, n.6,
IV.22.3

Decoratus xlviii, V.4
Dertona (Tortona) 1.17, XII.27.2

Magnus Felix Ennodius Introduction, nn. 40, 46, 54, 86-7, 109, xx,
xxiv, xxvi, xl, xliv, III. 18, endnote, IV.6, endnote, IV.51, n.12,
VIII. 12, n.3, IX.21, nn.15-16, XI. 13, n.ll, XI. 14, endnote
Eutharic xii, xlvii-xlviii, VIII. 1.3, IX.25.3
Anicius Probus Faustus Niger xliv, 11.38 III.20, III.21 (?), III.27.3
(?), III.28.2 (?), III.51, IX.24, n.18, X.ll, n.3, XI. 14, endnote
Felix (Consul) xlv, II. 1, III.39

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INDEX

197

Felix IV (Pope) xlix, VIII. 15, IX. 15, n.5

Franks xii-xiii, xv, xviii, xxxix-xl, xliii, 11.40.1, 11.41, III. 1.3,
III.2.3, m.3.2, III.4, 111,32, n.23, IX.18, n.10, XI. 1.12
Gaul xii-xiii, xvi-xviii, xxvii, xliii, xlv, II. 1.2, III. 17, IV.5, XI. 1.16;

of. III. 18, III.32, HI-41, III.44
Gemellus III. 17, III. 18, III.32, III.41; cf. xliii
Gudeliva X.21

Gundobad xl, xli (n.86) 1.45.2,1.46, III. 1.4, III.2, III.3.2, III.4, n.5
Herminafrid IV. 1; cf. Thoringi
Heruls III. 3
Honoratus xlviii, V.4

Inportunus xlv, xlviii, 1.27.2, III.6, III.36, n.25; cf. xliii
Istria XII.22, XII.24.1, XII.26.3
John (governor) III.27, IV. 10
John n (Pope) lii, IX. 15, XI.2

John Lydus xiv-xv, xxiii, xxvi, xxxi, li-lii, X.20, n.6, XI.36,
nn. 17-18, XL38, n.20

Jordanes xxvi (n.44), xxxi, xliii (n.89), III.l, n.l, IV. 1, endnote,
X.22, n.ll, XI, 1, n.9, XII.20, n.18, XII.24, n.22
Justin I xii, xli, xlvii, VIII.l, XI. 1, n.4

Justinian I xiii, xv-xvi, xxvii-xxix, xliv, li, X.ll, n.4, X.20.2,
X.22, X.26, X.32, XI.l, nn.4-5, 8, XI. 13
Petrus Marcellinus Felix Liberius xvi-xvii, xxxviii-xxxix, xlvi
(n.97) 11.16, XI. 1.16-17; cf. xliii
Licinus, brick depot of 1.25.2

Liguria xxxviii, 1.17, n.13, 11.20, VIII.12.7, XL 14, XI.16, XII.8,
XII.27, endnote

Lucania xxxii, xxxvii-xxxviii, xlvi, xlix, lii, 1.3.5, 1.4.14, III.8,
III.46.2, IV.5.2, VIII.31, n.12, VIII.33, XI.39, XII.5, XII. 12,
XII. 13, XII. 15

M^jorian xlii, 11.24, n.10, III.31, n.22, XI.16, n.15
Marseilles (Massilia) III. 17, endnote, III.41.2
Maximus xlv, V.42, X.ll

Milan (Mediolanum) xxxviii, xlv, 111.39*2, VIII. 12, nn.3,8, X.13,
endnote, XII.27

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198

THE VARIAE OF CASSIODORUS

Odoacer xi, xxxiii, xxxvii-xxxix, 1.3, n.l, 1.4.6, n.5, 1.18, n.16,

II. 16.2-3, V.41.5

Ostrogoths xi-xvii, xxv-xxviii, xxxi-xxxii, xxxviii-xliii, xlvii-1, liii,
1.4.17, 1.17, 1.18.2, II.l, endnote, II.16.5, 11.40, n.31, III.13,

III. 23.2-3, III.36, n.24, V.29, endnote, IX.25.4-6,9, X.31,
XI. 1.12, 14, XII.5.3-4, endnote

Pannonia xvii, xxvii, III.23; cf.xii
Pavia (Ticinum) xx, 11.20, n.2, XII.27.2
Peter (the Patrician) li, X.20.3, X.22.1

Procopius Introduction, nn. 12, 52, 62, 64, 81, 84, 98, 107, 111,
112, 114, li, II.l, endnote, VI.6, n.4, VIII. 1, n.l, IX. 18, n.10,
X.3, n.l, X.5, endnote, X.ll, n.4, X.13, endnote, X.20, n.8, ,

X. 21, n.9, X.26, endnote, X.32, endnote, XI. 1, nn.2, 5, 7, XII.5,
endnote, XII.27, endnote

Ravenna xi-xiii, xv, xx, xxv-xxvi, xxviii-xxix, xxxvii-xxxviii, xlii,
xlvii, xlix, liii, 11.20, 11.21, endnote, VI.6.6, XII.22.3, XII.24.1,
3, endnote

Rome (city) ix-x, xiii-xv, xxviii, xxxvii-xl, xlii-xliii, xlv-xlvii, xlix-1,
lii-liii, 1.25, 11.21, endnote, III.20, n.12, III.21, III.30-1, III.51,

IV. 6, IV.51, V.42, VIII. 12.6, IX.15-16, IX.21, X.13, X.32.1,

XI. 2, XI. 13.6, XI.39.1-3, XII.27, endnote
Salona III.7, XII.24, endnote

Samnium xlii, III. 13, IV. 10, XI.36
Sicily xxxvii, 1.3.3, 1.4.14; cf. IV.6
Sipontum 11.38
Spoleto 11.21, V.4.6, endnote

Squillace (Scillacium) xxxvii, xlvii, XII. 15; cf. Vivarium
Q.Aurelius Memmius Svmmachus iunior xiii, xxxvi-xxxvii, xl
(n,83), xlv, xlvii-xlviii, li (n.109), liii, 1.10, endnote, 1.23.2,11.14,
IV.6, IV.22.3, IV.51, XI. 1, n.l
Theatre of Pompey IV.51

Theodahad xiii-xiv, xvi, xxviii, xliii, 1-li, IV. 1, endnote, IX. 18,
n.ll, X.3, X.21.1, X.31, n.14, endnote, X.32.2, XI. 13, XII. 12
(?), XII.20; X is drafted mostly in his name.

Cassio_Variae_7_p168-204

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INDEX

199

Theoderic (the Ostrogoth) xi~xiv, xviii, xx, xxii, xxv-xxix, xxxiv,
xxxvi-xlix, VIII. 1.3,5, VIII. 12.3, VIII.15, VIII.33, n.14, IX. 18.12,
IX.24.1-8, X.3.7, X.31.5, XI. 1, n.3; in general, see I-V drafted
mostly in his name.

Theodora li, X.20-1
Thoringi III.3, IV. 1, XI. 1, n.6
Tuluin xxxix, VIII. 12.1
Tusda IV.5.2, IX. 18, n.ll, XI.38

Valentinian ffl 1.4.10, VIII.33, n.14, IX.18.1, XI.1.9, XI.39, n.24
Vandals x, xii-xiii, 1.4.14, IV. 1, endnote, IX.25.9-10, XI. 13, n.ll
Venantius (governor) xlvi, III.8, III.46
Venantius (son of Liberius) xxxix, II. 16
Venetia XII.24, XII.26.1

Visigoths xii, xxviii (n.50), xliii, III. 1, III.3.2, IX.21, n.15, XII.20,
n.18

Vivarium xxix, xlvii, 1.45, endnote, XII. 15, n.7
Warni m.3, V.l

Witigis xiii-xiv, 1, liii, II. 1, endnote, X.13, endnote, X.31-2

INDEX 2: SUBJECTS, DIGRESSIONS AND ALLUSIONS

Accessions of Ostrogothic Rulers xi-xiii, xvi, xlviii, 1, 1.18.2,
VIII.l, IX.25.7, X.3, X.31

Agriculture and Fisheries xxxviii, xlvi, 11.21, 11.32, 11.41, n.32,
III.52, VIII.31.4-5, VIII.33.3-4, X.26.2, XI. 14.2-3, XI.39.3-4,
XII.5.5, XII. 12, XII. 15.4-5, XII.22, XII.24, XII.25, XII.26,
XII.27

Allusions, Digressions: the Bible xix, xxi, xxix, lii, 11.40.11,
VI.3.1-2, 9, IX.15.11, IX.25.11, X.3.5, X.26.4, XII.25.7

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THE VAR1AE OF CASSIODORUS

Allusions, Digressions: Classical Literature, Myth and Legend
(select) xxi, Preface, 2,4,9, 1.3.4,1.45.4,10, II.40.6-10, 14, 17,

III. 4.4, III.6.3-4, III.31.4, III.51.3, 11-13, IV.51.7-9, endnote,
V.1.2, V.4.6, V.42.2-3, 11, VI.5.3, VIII. 12.4, 7, VIII.33.1,

IX. 21.9, X.3.4, X.31.2, XI.1.7, 15, 20, XI.14.4-5, XII.15.1-3, 7
Allusions, Digressions: Cultural History, Cultural Themes xix,

xxii, xxiv-xxvi, xxxix-xl, 1.10 (mathematics, coinage), 1.45
(mechanics), 11.40 (music). III.31.4, III.51 (chariot racing). III.52
(mathematics, surveying), IV.51 (theatre), V.l, V.42
(amphitheatre), VI.3.1-2, VIII. 12.4-5, IX.21, IX.25.4-6, XI.36.2-3,
XI.38.2-6 (writing, papyrus), XII. 15.3
Allusions, Digressions: Natural History xix, xxii-xxiii, xxv, 11.14,

IV. 1, V.4.5-6, V.42.8, VIII.12.4-5, VIII.31.1-3,7, IX.24.8,

X. 3.2-3, XI. 14.5, XI.36.2-3, XI.38.2-5, XII. 12 , XII. 15, XII.24,

XII. 25; cf. Landscapes

Allusions, Digressions: Secular History (pre 476) xix, xxi,
xxvi-xxvii, xxix, 1.4.9-14, III.l.l, III.3.3, III.6.3, III.23.2,
111.51.3-4,9, III.52.6, V.42.2-5, IX.19.2, IX.25.4, 10, X.11.2,

XI. 1.9, 19, XI.39.1, 4, XII. 13.1, XII.20.4
Appointments xvi-xxi, xxvi, xxxi, xxxviii, 1-lii, 1.3-4, 11.16, III.6,
III. 13, III. 17, III.23, V.4, V.40-1, VI.3, VI.5, VI.6, VIII. 12,
VIII. 15, IX.24-5, X.ll, XI. 1.16-18

Barbarian-Roman Relations xi-xvi, xxv-xxviii, xxxi-xxxii,
xxxix-xliii, xlvii-1, liii, 1.18, II.8, II.16.5, ID. 13, III.23, III.36,
n.24, VIII.28, IX.24.4-6, XII.5

Cities and Civic Life xliii, xlv-xlvi. Preface, 5, 1.25, 1.27, III.21,
III.30-1, III.39, III.44, III.51, IV.6, IV.51, VIII.31, IX.15,
X.13.2, XI. 14, XI.39, XII.8, XII. 15
Civil Service ix-xi, xiii-xv, xviii, xxii-xxix, xxxi, xxxiii, xli-xliv,
xlvi-lii, VI.3, VI.6, VII.42, XI. 14, XI.36, XI.38, XII. 13, XII. 15,

XII. 16

Coins, Weights and Measures xxvi (n.45), 1.10, XI. 16, XII. 16,
XII.24.6

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INDEX

201

Constitutional Position of Ostrogothic Rulers xi-xii, xvi, xli-xlii,

II. l, VIII.l, X.ll, n.4, X.22, X.31; cf. Accessions
Consulship ix-xiii, xxv, xxxvi, xxxix, xlv, xlvii, 1.27.2, II.l, III.6.6,

III. 39, III.51, V.42, VIII. 1.3, X.11.3

Diplomacy with Barbarian Kings xii, xv, xxxix-xl, xlii, xlix, 1.46,
n.41, III.1-4, IV. 1, V.l, XI. 1.13.

Diplomacy with the Emperor xi-xiii, xv, xlii, xlvii-li II.l, V.40.5,
VIII.l, X.20-2, X.ll, n.4, X.26, X.32, XI. 1.10-11, XI. 13, XII.20
Ecclesiastical and Religious Affairs xi-xiii, xv-xvi, xxi-xxii,
xxiv-xxvi, xliii-xlviii, lii-liii, II.8, 11.27, III.7, IV.22, VIII. 15,

VIII. 33.6-8, IX. 15-16, IX. 18.9, X.26, XI.2, XI. 13.6, XII. 13,
XII.20; cf. Jews, Magic, Papacy

Edicts xiv, xviii, xxii-xxiii, xxx-xxxi, xii, 1-li, II.24.5, 11.25,

IV. 10.2-3, VII.42, IX.15.7,11, IX.18-20, XII.13

Education xiv-xv, xxiii-xxviii, xlvii, 1, liii, Preface, 8, 14, 1.46, 2-3,
III.6.3-5, III.52.7, IV. 1.1-2, IV.6, V.40.5, VIII. 12, Vm.31.6,

IX. 21, IX.24.8, X.3.4-5, XI. 1.4-7; cf. Rhetoric

Food Supply and Famine xliii, lii. Preface, 5, 11.20,11.38, III.41,
III.44, IV.5, VI.3.1,6, VI.6.6, IX.25.9, XI.2.4, XI. 16.4, XI.39,
XII. 12, XII.22.3-5, XII.24.2-4, XII.25, XII.26, XII.27; cf. Trade,
Transport

Fortifications 1.17, III.41, III.44, XI.39.2, XII.15.5; cf. Warfare
Jews xliv, 11.27

Landscapes xix, xxi, xxiii, xlix, lii, VIII.31.5, VIII.33.3-5, XI. 14,
XII. 15, XII.22, XII.24

Law, Justice, and Public Order xv-xvi, xxi-xxxiii, xli-xliii,
xlvii-xlviii, li-lii. Preface, 10, I.3.4-5, 1.18, 1.23, 1.27, 11.14,

II. 16.5, 11.21, II.32.4, III.7, III. 13, III. 17, III. 18, III.20, III.23,

III. 27, III.36, III.46, III.52, IV. 10, IV.22, V.4, V.29, V.40.2-4,

V. 41.3-4, VI.3.3-4, VI.5.4-5, VII.42, VIII. 12.2, VIII. 15, Vm. 28 ,
VIII.33, IX. 15-16, IX.18-20, IX.24.4-5, IX.25.10, X.5, XI. 1.8,
XII.5, XII.20

Magic xlvii, IV.22, IX. 18.9

Panegyric xviii-xx, xxiii, xxxvi, xxxix, xlvii, 1, Preface, 9, 11, XI. 1;
cf. Appointments

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THE VARIAE OF CASSIODORUS

Papacy x, xiii, xxi-xxii, xxix, xliii, xlv, xlviii, lii, VIII. IS, IX. 15-16,
XI.2, XII.20

Praetorian Prefecture ix, xiv-xv, xxi, xxxi, xxxviii-xxxix, xlii-xliii,
1-liii, Preface, 4-6,1.3.6,1.4.6-8, II. 16.4-5, II.24.2, III.20, III.27,
VI.3, VIII.31.1, IX.24.11-12, IX.25.12, X.26.2, XI.16, XI.36,
XI.38, XI.39.4-5, XII.5.1-2,9, XII.8, XII.13, XII. 15.1,7, XII.16;
see, in general, XI-XII

Public Buildings xix, xliii, 1.25, III.30-1, III.44, III.51.4-10, IV.51,
V.42.5, XI.39.2

Public Shows xix, xxi, xliii, xlv, 1.27, III.39, III.51, IV.51, V.42,

IX.21.8

Quaestorship ix, xiv, xxvi-xxix, xxxi, xxxvi, xxxix-xlvi, xlviii-li.
Preface, 7-8, V.4, VI.5, VII.42, IX.24.3-5, IX.25.8
Rhetoric, Literature xiv, xviii-xxxii, xxxix-xl, xlvii. Preface, 1-3,
8-11, 15-18, III.6.3-5, V.4.4-6, VI.5, VIII.12, IX.21,

IX. 25.2-3,11, X.3.4-5, XI. 1.6-7, XI.38.5-6; cf. Panegyric,
Education

Senate and Ruler ix-xiii, xv-xvi, xxviii, xxxi-xxxii, xxxvii, xl-xli,
xliii, xlvi-1, liii, 1.23, 1.27, II. 1, II.24-5, III.6, III.21, III.31,
III.36, IV.22, n.5, V.41.3, VI.6.2, VIII. 15, IX.16, IX.21, X.ll,

X. 13, XI.1.15, XI.13.3-4; cf. Appointments

Taxes, Levies, Services xxxviii, xlvi, li-lii, II. 16.4, II.24-5,11.38,

111.8, III.32, IV.5, VI.6.5, X.26.2, XI. 14, XI.16, XI.36.4,

XI. 38.6, XI.39, XII.5.3-4, XII.8, XII.13, XII.15.6-7, XII.16,

XII. 22, XII.26, XII.27

Trade xxxviii, 11.38, III.7, IV.5, V.l, VIII.31.5, VIII.33, XI.39,
n.24, XII. 12, n.3, XII.22, XII.24, XII.26, XII.27
Transport, Public Post xlix, lii, III.44, IV.5, VI.6.3-4, XI. 14.1,
XII.15.6-7, XII.22.2-3,5, XII.24

Warfare ix-xiii, xxv, xxxviii, xlii-xliii, lii-liii, 1.4.11-12,14,17,1.17,

11.8, 11.38,11.41, III. 1-4, III.32, III.41, VI.6.1, VIII.12.1, IX.18,
pref., IX.21.4, IX.25.9-10, X.31, X.32.1, XI.1.9-13, XI.13.3-6,
XI. 16.4, XII.5, XII.26.2; cf. Fortifications

Women xiii, 1-li, III.6.6, IV. 1, IX.15.4-7, X.20-1, X.26.3,
XI. 1.5-19

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MAP 1. EUROPE, ca. 510 AD.

MAP 2. ITALY showing the late Roman administrative boundaries,
and places referred to in the text.

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